Sunil Gavaskar is a former international cricketer who represented and captained the Indian cricket team. In a career spanning over 16 years he made 35 centuries (100 or more runs) at the international level.[2] Described as one of the greatest opening batsmen in cricket history,[3][4] Gavaskar played 125 Test matches and scored 10,122 runs.[3] He was the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs and held the record for most runs until Allan Border surpassed it.[5] Gavaskar's record of 34 Test centuries stood for almost two decades before Tendulkar surpassed it in December 2005.[6] He was named the Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year in 1971 and as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1980.[3][7] In February 2012, the International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted him into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[2][8][9] As of 2012, he is the third-highest run scorer for India in Test cricket, after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.[1]
Making his Test debut against the West Indies in March 1971,[10] Gavaskar scored his first century in the third Test of the same series.[11] In the final Test at Port of Spain he scored centuries in both innings of the match with scores of 124 and 220, becoming the second Indian player to perform the feat.[12] He became the first player to score two centuries in a Test match for the third time, when he made 107 and 182 not out in a match against the West Indies in December 1978.[12][13] Gavaskar's highest Test score of 236 not out came against the West Indies at Chennai in 1983,[5][N 1] an Indian record at that time.[5] He has scored 150 or more runs in a Test match innings on twelve occasions. Gavaskar was most successful against the West Indies and Australia scoring 13 and 8 centuries respectively.
Gavaskar made his One Day International (ODI) debut against England at Headingley in 1974.[13] Unlike his Test career, his ODI career was less illustrious scoring 3,092 runs at an average of 35.13.[13] Gavaskar's solitary century in ODIs came in the penultimate innings of his career—against New Zealand—during the 1987 Cricket World Cup where he scored 103 runs in 88 balls; the performance ensured India's victory, which earned him a man of the match award.[14]
Symbol | Meaning |
---|---|
* | Remained not out. |
‡ | Gavaskar was named "Man of the match". |
† | Captained the Indian cricket team. |
Pos. | Position in the batting order |
Inn. | The innings of the match. |
Test | The number of the Test match played in that series. |
S/R. | Strike rate during the innings |
H/A/N | Venue was at home (India), away or neutral. |
Date | Date the match was held, or the starting date of match for Test matches. |
Lost | The match was lost by India. |
Won | The match was won by India. |
Drawn | The match was drawn. |
No. | Score | Against | Pos. | Inn. | Test | Venue | H/A/N | Date | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 116 | West Indies | 2 | 2 | 3/5 | Bourda, Georgetown | Away | 19 March 1971 | Draw[16] |
2 | 117* | West Indies | 2 | 4 | 4/5 | Kensington Oval, Bridgetown | Away | 1 April 1971 | Draw[17] |
3 | 124[N 2] | West Indies | 2 | 1 | 5/5 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain | Away | 13 April 1971 | Draw[18] |
4 | 220[N 3] | West Indies | 2 | 3 | 5/5 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain | Away | 13 April 1971 | Draw[18] |
5 | 101 | England | 1 | 2 | 1/3 | Old Trafford, Manchester | Away | 6 June 1974 | Lost[19] |
6 | 116 † | New Zealand | 1 | 2 | 1/3 | Eden Park, Auckland | Away | 24 January 1976 | Won[20] |
7 | 156 | West Indies | 1 | 2 | 2/4 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain | Away | 24 March 1976 | Draw[21] |
8 | 102 | West Indies | 1 | 4 | 3/4 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain | Away | 7 April 1976 | Won[22] |
9 | 119 | New Zealand | 1 | 1 | 1/3 | Wankhede Stadium, Bombay[N 4] | Home | 10 November 1976 | Won[23] |
10 | 108 | England | 1 | 1 | 5/5 | Wankhede Stadium, Bombay[N 4] | Home | 11 February 1977 | Draw[24] |
11 | 113 | Australia | 1 | 4 | 1/5 | Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane | Away | 2 December 1977 | Lost[25] |
12 | 127 | Australia | 1 | 3 | 2/5 | Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth | Away | 16 December 1977 | Lost[26] |
13 | 118 | Australia | 1 | 3 | 3/5 | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne | Away | 30 December 1977 | Won[27] |
14 | 111[N 2] | Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 3/3 | National Stadium, Karachi | Away | 14 November 1978 | Lost[28] |
15 | 137[N 3] | Pakistan | 1 | 3 | 3/3 | National Stadium, Karachi | Away | 14 November 1978 | Lost[28] |
16 | 205 † | West Indies | 1 | 1 | 1/6 | Wankhede Stadium, Bombay[N 4] | Home | 1 December 1978 | Draw[29] |
17 | 107 †[N 2] | West Indies | 1 | 1 | 3/6 | Eden Gardens, Calcutta[N 5] | Home | 29 December 1978 | Draw[30] |
18 | 182* †[N 3] | West Indies | 1 | 3 | 3/6 | Eden Gardens, Calcutta[N 5] | Home | 29 December 1978 | Draw[30] |
19 | 120 † | West Indies | 1 | 1 | 5/6 | Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi | Home | 24 January 1979 | Draw[31] |
20 | 221 ‡ | England | 1 | 4 | 4/4 | Kennington Oval, London | Away | 30 August 1979 | Draw[32] |
21 | 115 † | Australia | 1 | 1 | 4/6 | Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi | Home | 13 October 1979 | Draw[33] |
22 | 123 † | Australia | 1 | 1 | 6/6 | Wankhede Stadium, Bombay[N 4] | Home | 3 November 1979 | Won[34] |
23 | 166 † | Pakistan | 1 | 2 | 5/6 | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Madras[N 1] | Home | 15 January 1980 | Won[35] |
24 | 172 † ‡ | England | 1 | 2 | 2/6 | Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, Bangalore | Home | 9 December 1981 | Draw[36] |
25 | 155 † | Sri Lanka | 1 | 2 | 1/1 | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Madras[N 1] | Home | 17 September 1982 | Draw[37] |
26 | 127* † | Pakistan | 1 | 3 | 3/6 | Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad | Away | 3 January 1983 | Lost[38] |
27 | 147* | West Indies | 1 | 2 | 3/5 | Bourda, Georgetown | Away | 31 March 1983 | Draw[39] |
28 | 103* | Pakistan | 1 | 3 | 1/3 | Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, Bangalore | Home | 14 September 1983 | Draw[40] |
29 | 121 | West Indies | 1 | 1 | 2/6 | Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi | Home | 29 October 1983 | Draw[41] |
30 | 236* ‡ | West Indies | 4 | 2 | 6/6 | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Madras[N 1] | Home | 28 December 1983 | Draw[42] |
31 | 166* | Australia | 1 | 2 | 1/3 | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | Away | 15 December 1985 | Draw[43] |
32 | 172 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 3/3 | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | Away | 2 January 1986 | Draw[44] |
33 | 103 | Australia | 1 | 2 | 3/3 | Wankhede Stadium, Bombay[N 4] | Home | 15 October 1986 | Draw[45] |
34 | 176 ‡ | Sri Lanka | 1 | 2 | 1/3 | Green Park Stadium, Kanpur | Home | 17 December 1986 | Draw[46] |
No. | Score | Against | Pos. | Inn. | S/R | Venue | H/A/N | Date | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 103 ‡ [N 6] | New Zealand | 2 | 2 | 117.04 | Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur | Home | 31 October 1987 | Won[48] |