Published 12:55 IST, July 17th 2020
Inzamam-ul-Haq predicts Sunil Gavaskar would've scored 15-16k runs in modern-day Tests
Inzamam-ul-Haq said that there were several great players in Gavaskar's era but none of them could reach the 10k-run mark in Tests like he did.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
Team India's legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar was considered one of the best batsmen during the 1980's and was instrumental in India winning the 1983 World Cup. Apart from winning the World Cup, Sunil Gavaskar also became the first batsman ever to score 10,000 Test runs. He achieved the feat in a match against Pakistan, which happened to bee his 124th Test. Heaping praise on Sunil Gavaskar's achievement, former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq said that the former India opener had done the unthinkable by scoring 10,000 runs in Test cricket back then.
Also Read: Inzamam-ul-Haq Recalls Sunil Gavaskar Shunning Indo-Pak Rivalry For Giving Batting Advice
Inzamam-ul-Haq on Sunil Gavaskar's batting record
While talking on his YouTube channel, Inzamam-ul-Haq said that there were several great players in Gavaskar's era as well, naming the likes of Javed Miandad, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers and Don Bradman but none of them could reach the 10,000-run mark in Tests, which couldn't make them match the former India captain.
He further said that Sunil Gavaskar’s 10,000 runs of that era are equal to today’s 15,000 to 16,000 runs which can be more than that but not less in anyway. This made him hint that Sunil Gavaskar could have equalled or broken Sachin Tendulkar's record of 15.921 runs in the longest format of the game, which is quite a bold statement.
While talking about the pitches Sunil Gavaskar batted on, Inzamam said that those were not so flat, especially while playing outside the sub-continent. He added that today, batting-friendly wickets are prepared so that the batsmen can continue scoring runs. The ICC also wants spectators to be entertained, which is why the skill has become much easier today, according to Inzamam.
Sunil Gavaskar stats
Coming to the Sunil Gavaskar stats, the former India skipper finished his career with 10,122 runs in 125 Tests at an average of 51.12. He also scored 34 hundreds in his career which were a record at that time too. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar currently leads the run-scoring charts with 15,921 runs in 200 Tests, with 51 Test hundreds.
Sachin Tendulkar centuries
Coming to Sachin Tendulkar centuries, the Master Blaster during his 24-year international journey, amassed 34,357 international runs across 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one T20I to lead the all-time run-scoring charts. The former Indian captain also registered 51 centuries in Tests and 49 tons in ODIs. With 100 international centuries, he is currently 29 centuries ahead of second-placed Ricky Ponting (71) and 30 tons ahead of his contemporary, Virat Kohli (70).
Inzamam-ul-Haq on being troubled by Sachin Tendulkar
Back in February, while speaking on his YouTube channel Inzamam ul Haq had praised Sachin Tendulkar for his bowling saying that the India cricket legend troubled him more as a bowler than the likes of Australian great Shane Warne. Inzamam-ul-Haq had said that Sachin Tendulkar was a genius cricketer who could bowl leg-spin, off-spin and medium pace. He said that he faced many great leg-spinners and never had troubles in reading their googlies but it was only Tendulkar who troubled him and got him out many times.
(IMAGE: PAKISTAN CRICKET/ MUMBAI INDIANS / TWITTER)
Updated 12:55 IST, July 17th 2020