WATCH- Former India legend Sunil Gavaskar picks Gary Sobers over Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli as best batter (Source: X/Twitter)
The ongoing Test series being played between Australia and India is named after two legendary former players Allan Border and the renowned ‘Little Master’ aka Sunil Gavaskar. Hence, the fact that the series was named after Gavaskar, he is often asked about great players during the interviews.
In the same vein, recently, the former India batting legend was asked to pick the greatest Indian batter. Notably, during a talk show, he was asked to pick between himself, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. However, his follow-up reply left a podcast host astonished as he came up with another name to the extent that he ignored naming himself given that he scored 34 Test centuries, at a time when there were fiery pacers and also an invincible team to deal with in the form of the mighty West Indies.
As a result, his reply meant that even Tendulkar whom the fans worldwide often rate as the ‘God of Cricket’ could not make the cut. Moreover, Kohli being a modern-day great too failed to impress Gavaskar when it comes to the question of all time great. Surprisingly, he came up with the name of the former West Indies great, Sir Gary Sobers. Quite hilariously, the host who got stumped with his reply, reminded Sunil Gavaskar that Sobers was not given as an option to choose from.
“I think everybody was good but Gary Sobers was the best,” Gavaskar said to the host of The Front Bar podcast.
“I didn’t give him (Sobers) as an option,” the host darted back leaving everyone in splits.
“I know that and that’s where the dry comes in,” Gavaskar cheekily replied back.
Sobers maiden Test century was a world record knock
Meanwhile, speaking of the legendary Sir Gary Sobers, has tormented the opponents with his dominant and exceptional batting. Notably, Sobers made his debut for West Indies, aged 17. Just five years later, at the age of 23, Sobers scripted history by cracking a world record highest individual score of an unbeaten 365* runs against Pakistan. Incredibly, this was his maiden century in the Test format. The record which was established in 1958, stood the test of time and was only broken in the year 1994.
Also Check: Virat Kohli just 102 runs away from breaking Brian Lara’s Adelaide record!
During his illustrious international cricket career, Sobers represented West Indies in 93 Test matches and piled up a commendable 8,032 runs. During this journey, he maintained an impeccable average of 57.78 and smashed 26 centuries and 30 half centuries as well. Moreover, Gary Sobers also was a handy bowler and produced some memorable all round performances for West Indies. The legendary figure claimed 235 wickets during his career while averaging 34.03. Besides, he also got a chance to play a sole ODI match for the Caribbean team.