5 Incredible Records Of Sunil Gavaskar In Test Cricket

Sunil Gavaskar is perhaps the greatest Test match opening batsman of all time. His ability to score runs consistently against the best of attacks stood out during his career. He was the first man on the planet that reached the summit of 10,000 Test match runs.

A man who played on uncovered pitches and without a helmet dominated every condition during his legendary career. Now a popular commentator, Gavaskar gives his in-depth analysis during every home game that India plays.

Many still consider him to be one of the finest ever batsman to play the game. We take a look at his remarkable Test career in which he represented India in 125 matches.

Here are 5 interesting records achieved by Sunil Gavaskar in his Test cricket:

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 1. More than 700 runs in his debut series

Gavaskar in 1971 played his first Test series against the mighty West Indies team. The determined right-handed batsman stood tall against the fearsome bowling attack of the West Indies. This is still the most runs scored by an Indian batsman in a Test series.

In the 8 innings that Gavaskar batted, he amassed 774 runs at a staggering average of 154.80 that included 4 hundred and 3 fifties. Gavaskar announced his arrival in style and made the headlines in his debut series.

He also scored a double century and a century in the same Test in the series. The rare feat is the only time when an Indian batsman has scored a 200 and 100 in the same Test match.

2. The first batsman to go past the 29 centuries scored by Don Bradman

On December 28, 1983, Gavaskar created history and scored his 30th Test match ton. He went past Sir Don Bradman’s tally of 29 hundred and became the leading century make in Test cricket.

Gavaskar scored his record-breaking ton against his favourite opponents the West Indies during a Test match at Chennai. He scored a total of 34 centuries in his Test career which stood as a record for more than two long decades.

The former India skipper held the record until 2005 after which Sachin Tendulkar eventually scored his 35th Test match 100 and went past his idol.

3. Only Indian to score hundreds in both innings of same Test 3 times

Sunil Gavaskar had a tremendous appetite for runs during his career. He is still today the only Indian batsman that has scored hundreds in both innings of a Test match 3 times. Gavaskar scored 124 and 220 against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1971.

Then against arch-rivals Pakistan, the little master at Karachi scored 111 and 137 respectively in the same Test. One month later he again scored twin hundreds in the same Test against West Indies at Kolkata. He scored 107 in the first innings and followed it up by scoring 182* in the second innings.

4. Outstanding record against the best Team during the 70s and 80s

West Indies in the 1970s and 1980s was undoubtedly the powerhouse of world cricket. They used to terrify every opposition that they played against. Fast bowlers such as Micheal Holding, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall dance to their tunes. However, Gavaskar was one of the very few batsmen that dominated their bowling attack and always scored runs against them.

He aggregated a total of 2749 runs against West Indies during his career which is still the most by any batsman. Gavaskar had a total of 13 centuries against the fearsome bowling attack of West Indies which tells the quality of the man. Gavaskar was one the very few that was never intimidated by West Indies and always saved his best for the best team during his era.

5. First Indian batsman to carry his bat through a completed innings

On 3 Jan 1983, Sunil Gavaskar once again achieved an unimaginable feat as a batsman. During his knock of 127* against Pakistan at Faisalabad, he remained not-out in the entire innings.

This was the first for any Indian batsman and since then only 3 more Indian batsmen have carried their bat throughout completed innings. Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Cheteshwar Pujara are the only three batsmen apart from Gavaskar to remain unbeaten in a completed inning.