Was Gavaskar really great against the fiery West Indies pace attack ?
Sir Gary Sobers quoted Gavaskar still remains as the best batsman he has seen or played against.
Gavaskar remains the best. “He made runs away from home, against us facing a fast bowling quartet used to bowling out sides in three days. He made runs in England, made runs in Australia.”
There is not any doubt about Gavaskar as one of all time greatest batsman game of cricket has seen take it in terms of cricketing skills or performance or the influence he gave to the game of cricket as a whole.But there has been one thing which is most talked about when discussing Gavaskar , it is his record against WI at there peak .In 27 tests against the West Indies, Gavaskar scored an almost unbelievable 2749 runs at an average of 65.45, with an astonishing 13 centuries. These statistics are often used to underline claims as the greatest opening batsman of all-time and his amazing dominance of the otherwise unconquered West Indian four pronged pace battery.Sir Sobers too mentioned in his quote regarding the same.
I’ll put forward the statistics of series Sunny played against WI and his performance in all of them and i’ll leave it on you guys to have your views quoted on the same.
Gavaskar made his debut for India against the West Indies on the 6th of March, 1971 at Port of Spain. He played four tests, and finished the series with an impressive total of 774 runs at the astronomical average of 154.80 with four centuries. This was a period when WI cricket was going through state of change. The leading pacemen of the 60s including Hall, Griffith and Gilchrist had all played their final test. The Windies bowling attack was dominated by spin, with Lance Gibbs well on his way to passing Fred Trueman as the leading test wicket-taker. The fast bowlers that Gavaskar faced during this series were Keith Boyce, Grayson Shillingford, Vanburn Holder and Uton Dowe . The other medium paced bowlers used included Gary Sobers and John Shepard.
Gavaskar only played two tests of the 1974/75 home series against the West Indies. He struggled, scoring 108 runs at an average of just 27. The quick bowlers he faced in this series included a young Andy Roberts, and the medium paced Holder, Boyce and left armer Bernard Julien. Gavaskar’s next series against the West Indies was again away from home in 1975/76. Gavaskar again batted beautifully, scoring 390 runs at 55.71, with another two centuries. By this time, the Windies fast bowling battery was just starting to take form. The first two Tests saw Gavaskar opening the batting against genuine quicks Michael Holding and Andy Roberts. In support was swing bowler Julien, and spinners Holford and Jumadeen. After disappointing initially with 37 and 1 in the First Test, Gavaskar did score a wonderful 156 in the second. The Third and Fourth Tests saw no Andy Roberts, with Michael Holding in his second series as a Windies player supported by Wayne Daniel, Holder, Julien, Jumadeen, Albert Padmore and Imtiaz Ali.
The West Indies then toured India in 1978/79. This tour was in the middle of the Packer years, and the West Indies bowling attack was decimated. Rather than facing Holding, Roberts, Garner and Croft, Gavaskar opened the batting in the First Test against the legendary Norbert Phillip, his old nemesis Vanburn Holder, and Sylvester Clarke. The Windies attack again had reverted to spin, with Derek Parry and Jumadeen both playing. Gavaskar again gorged himself, scoring 732 runs at 91.50, with another 4 centuries. A very young Malcolm Marshall made his debut during this very high scoring six test series that India won 1-0, with five draws.
Loading ...Gavaskar’s second last series against the Windies was away in 1982/83. He scored 240 runs at an average of 30, with one century. Against the full might of the Windies four quicks (Holding, Roberts, Garner and Marshall), he scored 20 and 0 in the First Test, 1 and 32 in the Second, a very good 147 not out in the Third (which was badly affected by weather and India didn’t even finish their first innings), 2 and 19 in the Fourth, and 18 and 1 in the Fifth. This was the first time Gavaskar had played against all of the Windies quicks, and he clearly struggled.
In 1983/84, Gavaskar played the Windies for the last time. This series was at home, and the bowling attack was weakened by the absence of Garner. In the first test, the Windies fielding four quicks, but whilst Holding and Marshall were genuinely fast, neither Eldine Baptiste or Winston Davis really threatened. Gavaskar started poorly with 0 and 7 in the First Test, before finding some form with 121 and 15 in the Second, and 90 and 1 in the Third. 12, 3, 0 and 20 were his scores in the next two tests, before Gavaskar played one of his great knocks. In the final test, he dropped himself down the order to no. 4, with Gaekwad and Sidhu opening. The fact that Malcolm Marshall took two wickets without a run being scored meant that Gavaskar may as well have opened anyway. Gavaskar proceeded to totally dominate the Windies attack and scored a wonderful 236 not out.
A close scrutiny on the series es Sunny played against the West Indies, it is clear that only the final three centuries were actually scored against an attack that had some real pace strength as talked about.
As a consequence of factors outside of his control, Gavaskar didn’t play against the Windies full strength team between 1975/76 and 1982/83, then why always to personify his greatness his records against WI pace battery of 4 is talked about the most ?
Category: Indian Cricket, Vibhore's Googly
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Superb Article, I must say.
You have changed my views mate. I heard a lot about Gavaskar and WI attack, but this was really different.
I think thats why Gavaskar’s name is not used to include in any player’s Great list.
Thanks for sharing.
Excellent analysis… But i still think that gavaskar still deserves the accolades he gets.
Dear Vibhore
Nice analysis but I beg to differ with you in the sense that I too share Sir Gary’s views about Sunny and that is he is the greatest opening batsman India has ever produced. None had scored such an aggregate of runs against Windies and that too by a person who had never faced any fast bowler of real calibre from his own country. It is a great achievement and none can match. He has not used the helmet throughout his playing days and only during the fag end of his career he used the skull cap. Even in 1975 series he was injured while playing in a Ranji Match and hence he was not 100% fit. But he scored a scintillating knock of around 80 in the final test at Mumbai. He was the first person who spoke for Indian cricket and he was frank and he called a spade and that is why he was not liked (still he is not liked) by Aussies. His technique was copy book and none can match it. He is still the voice of Indian cricket and is being respected worldwide. Indian cricket became popular only after the advent of the GREAT SUNNY BHAI. HAILING FROM A COUNTRY WHICH WAS BEREFT OF FAST BOWLERS AND SCORING TONS AND TONS OF RUNS IS A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT. LET US HAIL SUNNY FOR ALL HIS STUPENDOUS FEAT.
Cannot compare players from different eras. Gavaskar played when pitches used to be uncertain and helping bowlers, unlike pitches being prepared after the real advent of oneday cricket in 1990s. You cannot dispute that if Gavaskar got determined not to get out, it was nearly impossible to get him out. That was more important in cricket in those days.
Take an example.
case 1 : You need a batsman who can score a dashing 80 to help the team get to 275 in a 50-over match on a batsman’s picth of these days.
case 2 : You need a batsman who you need to click on the crease for two days and make a 270, so that the test does not get out of hand – given the best attack on the uncertain pitches of bygone days.
and you have to choose between tendulkar and gavaskar.
Who would you take ?
For case 1, surely tendulkar; but may be you can have the task done with couple of alternate choices like sehwag or yuvraj.
For case 2, how many alternatives can you think of other than Gavaskar?
That’s it.
what about sachin’s record? his record is even more skewed….the only fast bowlers of any note from 1990-2000 were wasim/waqar in pakistan and ambrose/walsh in west indies….mcgrath apeared to be in control only in last part of decade and became a champion he was only after 1999…..how many test he played against deadly wasim/waqar and walsh and ambrose?…his averages would be less than 50:(
Very well researched Article.You have made a most valid point that Gavaskar has scored most of his runs against West Indies against the weaker attacks.Infact he struggled in the Carribean in 1983 and though at times brilliant was inconsistent in 1983 -84 in India.Infact on bouncy surfaces Vishwanath was a better player.
However let us not overlook the fact that no batsmen realistically came to terms with the 4-pronged Carribean pace attack,including the likes of the Chappell brothers.Mohinder Amarnath in 1983 combated them like nobody else but the very next season was completely out of sea.I am certain that with his 1971 and 1978 form Gavaskar would have effectively combated the best of attacks ,atleast averaging 65 runs and scoring at leasest 4 centuries overall.Remember how brilliant he was on a bad wicket at Ahmedabad.Above all Sunil was an opener,so one can imagine the enormity of the task.
Greg Chappell was extremely prolific against the Carribean attack,in the first part of his career but after Packer Cricket,received a consistent battering,particularly against the bouncing ball on fast tracks.He was a great player of quick bowling only on the slower pitches and did not relish the bouncy tops.
Frankly I challenge the likes of Len Hutton,Viv Richards or even Sachin Tendulkar to consistently dominate the Carribean pace attack of the early 1980′s.In this respect Graham Gooch,Allan Lamb and Mohinder Amarnath were champions.The best exhibition I have seen was Gooch’s 153 at Jamiaca in 1981 against the 4-pronged calypso attack.
Gavaskar,is not far way from being the greatest batsman ever to have played tset Cricket,considering his era.It is no joke combating the likes ofsuch great bowlers and in that respect he overshadows even Sachin Tendulkar.