Wrist Assured, the autobiography of former India captain Gundappa Viswanath was launched here amidst a galaxy of yesteryear stars.
The event was held during the dinner break on the opening day of the second Test at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Sunday. The book couldn’t have been titled better as Viswanath, through his incredible wrist work, brought style and grace to batting and elevated to the status of art.
Co-authored by senior sports journalist R Kaushik, the book was launched by two of India’s greatest cricketers and Viswanath’s team-mates Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavakar.
“I have played cricket for many years, but I have never experienced an atmosphere like this,” said an emotional Viswanath, who featured in 91 Tests and scored 6080 runs for India. “Today is one of the best days of my life. I had Kapil to my right and Gavaskar to my left… two of the greatest cricketers ever…it was such a privilege. I want to thank my family, friends and State Bank of India, with whom I worked for a long time for helping all along.”
Kapil had glowing words to say about the 73-year-old stalwart. “This book should have been written 20 years back, But I’m very happy it is finally out. He was my first hero. I took his autograph as a schoolboy. It was the first autograph I took, after the team came back from the West Indies. He is my all-time hero. He was a gentleman cricketer. I wish I could be like him,” said the 1983-World Cup winning captain.
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly hoped those who want to play for India will get to learn about the game by reading the book.
“My father started taking me to the Eden Gardens as early as a five-year-old, even before I knew how to play cricket. I watched you (Kapil and Viswanath) as early as then. It’s a pleasure and an honour for me to be at this function.”
Watch latest videos by DH here: