Sunil Gavaskar turns 73: Cricket legend who got exchanged at birth

Today, July 10, 2022, marks the 73rd birthday of Sunil Gavaskar, one of the greatest batters in history. In addition to being known as “Little Master,” Gavaskar set other cricket-related milestones during his career. In Test cricket, he is the first player in the world to reach 10,000 runs. Few people are aware of the birth story of Gavaskar, who may have grown up in a family of fishermen if his uncle hadn’t paid attention.

Sunil Gavaskar forged his own path in the sport of cricket, inspiring a great deal of young people and aspiring players. Even the great fast bowler struggled to control Gavaskar at one point while he was on the field. He used to enter the batter’s box without a helmet, addition to this.

At Port of Spain, against the West Indies, Gavaskar played his first Test match in 1971. In both of this match’s innings, he recorded half-centuries. His journey to earning a spot on the ODI team took him around three years. He faced off against England in Leeds in his maiden ODI in 1974.

Mumbai welcomed Gavaskar on July 10, 1949. This tale is also included in Gavaskar’s autobiography, ‘Sunny Days.’ When Sunil was born, Narayan Masurkar, his uncle, arrived at the hospital. Sunil had a “birthmark” next to his ear, which he saw when he lifted him up.

The infant was in his arms when he returned to the hospital the following day, shocking him. The kid he’d picked up didn’t have a “birthmark,” though. Little Sunil was sought for a very long time after Narayan informed the medical staff of this. Later, a woman from a family of fishers was observed dozing down next to Sunil.

Perhaps as a result of the nurse’s oversight, the kids had altered, but the hospital authorities fixed the situation, and the little Sunil was returned to his family.

In 125 Test matches throughout the course of his cricket career, Gavaskar amassed a total of 10122 runs, including 34 hundreds and 45 half-centuries. In addition, he amassed 3092 runs overall in 108 ODIs, including 1 century and 27 half-centuries. In his first-class career, he amassed 25834 runs, including 81 centuries.