Sunil Gavaskar amazingly used to be 'India's worst player in the nets': Kiran More

Former Indian cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar is widely recognised as one of the greatest Test batsmen of all time. Apparently, the ‘Little Master’ was not quite equally effective with the bat in the nets, according to former wicketkeeper-batsman and his ex-teammate Kiran More. Speaking on The Greatest Rivalry Podcast, More discussed about Sunil Gavaskar’s batsmanship and revealed what made the 125-Test veteran “highly respected” in the dressing room.

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‘Sunil Gavaskar’s level of concentration was unbelievable’: Ex-teammate Kiran More

In the podcast, Kiran More claimed that Sunil Gavaskar “was one of the worst players” he ever saw in the nets. He revealed that the legendary batsman never liked practicing during nets sessions. However, Kiran More also praised Sunil Gavaskar by saying that his batting in the match was “99.9 percent” different than his batting during nets practise. More says that as Gavaskar’s teammates, one would always ask themselves ‘How is he going to score runs?’ after watching him bat in the nets but the batting icon always left everyone amazed by grinding out hours at the crease.

According to Kiran More, Sunil Gavaskar’s level of concentration was “unbelievable” and “God-gifted”. He added that once the former Indian captain used to get into his zone, his sole focus becomes cricket and nothing else. Kiran More also said that Sunil Gavaskar never liked getting out, more so when he batted for an hour or more and lost his wicket in his 30s or 40s for example. He would often ask himself ‘How can I get out?’ after walking back into the dressing room irritated. Kiran More concluded by saying that such traits made Sunil Gavaskar “highly regarded and “respected” among his teammates.

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Sunil Gavaskar stats

Sunil Gavaskar stats place him among the ranks of all-time greats of the game. Since his debut in 1971 up until his retirement in 1987, Gavaskar represented the national side in 125 Tests and 108 ODIs. The right-hander scored 10,122 Test runs at an average of 51.12 and he was the first cricketer to scale 10,000-plus runs in the format. Sunil Gavaskar stats also includes a staggering 34 centuries and 45 half-centuries in Tests and he was the first person to score hundreds in each innings of a match on three occasions. The cricketer was also one of the members of the 1983 World Cup line-up, which India went on to win under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

Sachin Tendulkar was the first man to break Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 Test centuries, which came during a Test match against Sri Lanka in Delhi in 2005.

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Image credits: BCCI Twitter