Happy Birthday Sunil Gavaskar: 7 batting records held by the Little Master

Sunil Gavaskar, one of the greatest batsmen the world has ever seen, turned 69 on Tuesday.

The little master is considered to be among the finest to have played the game of cricket. At times when pitches around the world weren’t as friendly to batsmen as they are today, Gavaskar ruled the batting charts with his great talent and fearless attitude. The right handed batsman held various batting records in the longest format of the game. Gavaskar served Indian cricket for 16 years before saying goodbye to the game in November 1987. 

Here's a look at some of Sunil Gavaskar's records:

First to 10000 

Sunil Gavaskar was the first man to score 10,000 runs in the Test cricket. He completed the milestone on 7th March 1987 against Pakistan at Ahmedabad. He finished with 10,122 runs in test cricket.

34 Centuries

Gavaskar ruled the list of most centuries for a long time. He scored 34 centuries in his 125 Test matches. The record was broken by Sachin Tendulkar in 2005.

13 centuries against West Indies

Sunil Gavaskar loved playing West Indies. The Windies were alomost invincible in the 70s and 80s but Gavaskar scored 13 centuries against them in 27 matches played.

774

Gavaskar is the only man to score 774 against West Indies in a series. 

Carrying the Bat

He is first Indian to carry his bat throughout the innings. He scored 127 not out in that innings in Faisalabad Test against Pakistan. 

20.68 

Sunil Gavaskar's strike-rate in the 1975 World Cup game against England, where he scored 36* off 174, was 20.68. It's the lowest for any player in an ODI innings of minimum 100 balls.

13 years 110 days

Gavaskar scored his maiden ODI century 13 years after his debut- the longest span between a player’s debut and maiden ODI hundred.