Gavaskar is the Greatest: Sobers
The cricket world are more focused on Sachin Tendulkar after his historic ODI double century, but West Indian legend Gary Sobers rates another little Master Sunil Gavaskar as the greatest batsman he has ever seen, simply because of his tremendous success against the fearsome West Indies attack of the 1970s and 80s.
“In my view, Sunny Gavaskar is the greatest batsman I have come across. He has opened the innings against genuine and hostile fast bowlers like Michael Holding, Roberts, Croft and Garner. He has made more runs away from India – mostly in West Indies, Australia and England,” Sobers said.
Gavaskar had his debut in 1971 against the West Indies where he amassed 774 runs at 154.80 in the series. “This is not to say that players like Richards, Lara or Sachin Tendulkar are less. When you talk of Sachin, he has achieved everything that was expected of him,” said the 73-year-old who is considered as the greatest all rounder ever.
Sobers, who is the chief guest at a function to honor the 1971 team under Ajit Wadekar, felt it was wrong to compare players of different eras who have played under conditions that were vastly different. “People try to compare players of the past and the present, but the conditions under which Bradman and Compton played were different,” said Sobers.
The left-handed great also said there were no restrictions on the number of bouncers per over, beamers were not outlawed and bowlers delivered from two yards closer by dragging their feet as the back-foot no-ball rule was in operation. “The field was set by the players and not by rules. There were only 72 overs bowled during a day due to which the batsmen did not have many opportunities to score runs as they have today. There were no helmets and arm guards and the wickets were uncovered,” explained the former West Indies captain.
He had also some good words for India’s swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag and said that he is a very exciting player. “I will go to watch him play. He’s captured the imagination of the world,” said Sobers.
Sobers also commented on the current T-20 scenario and urged the cricket authorities to exercise caution while promoting this immensely popular form of the game. “T20 game is good entertainment and people will go for it but you have to be careful with regards to how far you want to promote it. It does not create top quality Test cricketers”.
He was also concerned about the easy money on offer in cricket and felt some of the cricketers just didn’t deserve it. “There’s a lot of money given to the players nowadays. Some of them deserve it but others don’t. I don’t know the reason and I don’t want to comment on it,” he said.
Sobers also supported the changes in the rules of the game that he felt has sped up the game and produced more results in Tests as compared to dreary draws during his time.
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