Sunny the greatest: Sobers
West Indian legend heaps praise on dashing opener Sehwag
The cricket world may be going ga ga over Sachin Tendulkar but West Indian legend Garry Sobers rates Sunil Gavaskar as the greatest batsman he has ever seen because of his stupendous success against the fearsome Caribbean pacers of the 1970s.
“It’s my approach, my view that Sunny Gavaskar is the greatest batsman I have come across. He has opened the innings against genuine fast bowlers like Michael Holding, (Andy) Roberts, (Colin) Croft and (Joel) Garner. He has made more runs away from India -- in the West Indies, Australia and England,” Sobers said here on Wednesday.
Gavaskar had a fairytale 1971 debut in the Caribbeans, where he amassed 774 runs at 154.80 in the series which made him the subject of a Calypso song.
“This is not to belittle players like Vivian (Richards), Brian (Lara) or Sachin (Tendulkar). When you talk of Sachin, he has done all that was expected of him,” said the 73-year-old Barbadian, considered the greatest all-rounder the game has seen.
Sobers, here as the chief guest at a function to honour the epoch-making 1971 team under Ajit Wadekar on Thursday as the feat enters its 40th year, felt it was wrong to compare players of different eras.
“People try to compare between the players of the past and the present, but the conditions under which the Bradmans and the Comptons played were different,” said Sobers.
The left-handed great 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. Also, around 72 overs were bowled during a day because of which the batsmen did not have as many opportunities as they have today to score runs. There were no helmets and arm guards and the wickets were uncovered,” explained the former West Indies captain.
The West Indian legend lavished praise on India’s swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag.
“Your opener (Sehwag), I will go to watch him play. He’s captured the imagination of the world,” said Sobers in praise of the Delhi dasher.
Sobers urged the authorities to exercise caution while promoting the immensely popular Twenty20 form of the game.
“Twenty20 game is good entertainment and people will go for it but you have to be careful how far you let it go. It does not breed Test cricketers,” said the cricketing great in the presence of Wadekar, who shared the dais.
