Mumbai: It was in 1972 that Don Bradman hailed Garry Sobers’ innings of 254 for the Rest of the World against Australia as the best he ever saw. Those privileged to have witnessed Sobers deliver that commanding innings live at the MCG still vividly recall its majesty.
Sunil Gavaskar was then in his formative years. In his narrator mood and at his wittiest best on Monday, the batting great spoke of his ‘contribution’ via clothing in that famous innings. “Sir Garry needed a sweater before walking out to bat. I was wearing an oversized one. So, he asked for mine and carried it to the crease. So, there was a little bit of me in that innings,” he said, smiling.
Gavaskar was seated alongside former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop at the Bombay Gymkhana, reminiscing about Sobers, arguably the greatest allrounder cricket saw, who died in July.
Interestingly, it was Bradman who had picked Gavaskar in the same squad as Sobers for Rest of the World, following the Indian opener’s heroics in the Caribbean on his debut Test tour in 1971, when he scored 774 runs in four Tests.
Gavaskar narrated another Sobers’ story, and not for the first time. But the raconteur that he is the retelling felt just as delightful. “While I was batting on 12 on debut, Sir Garry dropped me. I went on to score a fifty. I owe my career to him,” he said.
At a time when players had time for bonhomie after play, Gavaskar recalled the tradition of teams visiting each other’s dressing room for drinks. “Sir Garry dropped me on 4 in the second Test,” he said. “Later, he misjudged at backward short leg again when I was on 94. So, Lance Gibbs told me how lucky I was.
“Hearing that, Sir Garry decided he was going to touch me for luck. He went on to score a hundred. Then another hundred. By the time the last decisive Test came, and when our captain Ajit Wadekar heard Sobers was coming to our dressing room, he locked me up in the bathroom. Sir Garry came to meet our team, but couldn’t find me. He got out first ball. Ajit was like, ‘I told you so’.”
Bishop, who made his debut 14 years after Sobers retired, experienced first-hand the reverence the cricket world had for the West Indies legend from the outpouring of love on his passing.
“When we saw the outpouring of people travelling from all over the world, it told us what he was. It meant so much to the current players – Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell. That’s because Sobers wasn’t stuck in his era. He also watched T20 cricket,” said Bishop. “Sir Garry showed the Caribbean people they could be the best at something.”
