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Happy Birthday Sunil Gavaskar: The Little Master was almost switched during birth. Gavaskar recounted the incident and revealed he was sleeping blissfully in fisherwoman’s crib.
Happy Birthday Sunil Gavaskar: When the little master was almost switched at birth. (Oaktree Sports / YouTube)
Sunil Gavaskar turned 76 on Thursday. Born on July 10, 1949, Gavaskar propelled Indian cricket to new heights. He braved the tall, lethal bowling attacks of the world without wearing a helmet or breaking a sweat. He batted long sessions and piled on huge scores. The OG Little Master may have bid goodbye to the 22 yards in 1987, but he is still very much in and around the cricket grounds, performing commentating duties and sharing all the precious insights of the game.
One fascinating insight that Sunny Paaji shared off the cricket ground was when he was almost switched at birth. Yes, you read that right. Appearing on an episode of Breakfast With Champions hosted by Gaurav Kapur, Gavaskar shared an anecdote about his birth that could have had a major impact on the landscape of cricket in India.
Uncle Saves The Day
Recounting the incident, the Test legend revealed that he was born with a birthmark near his ear on July 10. His uncle, who had visited him earlier, knew of it. However, in a later visit, the uncle had a horrific realisation when he saw the baby in Gavaskar’s crib did not have the unique birthmark. Spooked, he searched around frantically before finally finding the little master. Gavaskar was blissfully snoozing in a fisherwoman’s crib.
Gavaskar relived the life-altering moment in his autobiography titled “Sunny Days”.
“I may never have become a cricketer and this book would certainly not have been written, if an eagle-eyed relation, Narayan Masurekar, had not come into my life the day I was born,” he wrote.
“It seems that Nan-Kaka (as I called him), who had come to see me in hospital on my first day in this world, noticed a little hole near the top of my left earlobe,” he added.
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“The next day he came again and picked up the baby lying on the crib next to my mother. To his utter horror, he discovered that the baby did not have the hole on the left earlobe. A frantic search of all the cribs in the hospital followed, and I was eventually located sleeping blissfully beside a fisherwoman, totally oblivious of the commotion I had caused! The mix-up, it appears, followed after the babies had been given their baths,” he concluded.
Appearing on BWC, Gavaskar revisited the incident. Kapur gifted him the register entry of his birth.
(Breakfast With Champions)
You can watch it here:
On 7th March 1987, Gavaskar entered the history books when he became the first batter of the beautiful sport to notch up 10,000 Test runs. He concluded his glorious 16-year career with 10,122 runs that consisted 34 centuries. His 34 centuries were the highest for any batter before cricket great Sachin Tendulkar broke the record in 2005. Gavaskar averaged 51.12.
In his fascinating career, Gavaskar once received a haircut from umpire Dickie Bird while the match was on! Annoyed by his hair blocking his sight during a windy day at Old Trafford in 1974, Gavaskar asked Bird to cut his hair strands using the scissors the latter had to cut the threads on the ball.
Anurag Verma, News Editor at News18.com, works independently for the Viral section. Bollywood, Cricket, Science, Tech, YouTube, Reddit, Meme Origins and everything Pop-culture are his forte. He covers humourous…Read More
Anurag Verma, News Editor at News18.com, works independently for the Viral section. Bollywood, Cricket, Science, Tech, YouTube, Reddit, Meme Origins and everything Pop-culture are his forte. He covers humourous… Read More
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