Mumbai, July 17 (IANS) Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has paid rich tributes to Sir Garfield Sobers, the West Indies cricket legend who passed away in Trinidad on Friday, by penning a personal note and posting it on social media.
“Rest in peace, Sir Garry. There will never, ever be another like you,” Gavaskar, the first batter to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, said in his note, in which he called the former West Indies captain “the ultimate standard of what a cricketer could be”.
Sobers, widely regarded as the greatest all-rounder the game has ever produced, leaves behind an unmatched legacy built on remarkable achievements with both bat and ball. The West Indies icon will always be remembered as the first player to hit six sixes in a single over in first-class cricket. He accomplished this feat in 1968 at St Helen’s Ground in Swansea while playing for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan.
Gavaskar reacted to the news of Sri Garry’s death with a heartfelt note in which he described him as the greatest all-rounder the game had ever witnessed and “the sheer awe he inspired whenever India played the West Indies”.
“It is with an incredibly heavy heart that I hear the news of the passing of the greatest of them all, Sir Garfield Sobers. For anyone who loves this beautiful game, Sir Garry wasn’t just a cricketer; he was the ultimate standard of what a cricketer could be.
“When we talk about all-rounders today, we often look at players who can balance two disciplines. But Sir Garry? He was a master of five. He could bat like a dream, bowl fast-medium with the new ball, switch seamlessly to orthodox left-arm spin, bowl wrist spin, and field like a panther at short leg or in the slips. To watch him walk onto a cricket field, with that loose, rhythmic Caribbean stride, collars turned up, was to watch absolute majesty in motion. He played the game with a sublime joy and a fierce, competitive dignity that defined an entire era,” Gavaskar wrote.
Born in Barbados, Sobers made his first-class debut at just 16 in 1953. The following year, he earned a West Indies Test cap. His rise to greatness was quick. In 1958, against Pakistan, he scored an unbeaten 365, setting a new world record for the highest individual Test score. This record stood until his fellow countryman Brian Lara broke it in 1994.
“I remember the sheer awe he inspired whenever India played the West Indies. You couldn’t take your eyes off him. Even when he was taking the game away from you, you couldn’t help but marvel at the genius of the man. His 365 not out stood as a mountain for decades, and those six sixes in an over became the stuff of folklore. Yet, off the field, he was always an absolute gentleman—warm, incredibly generous with his knowledge, and fiercely proud of the game’s finest traditions,” said Gavaskar, who had previously talked about the encouragement he got from Sobers after his debut Test against the West Indies.
Throughout his impressive international career, Sobers played 93 Tests for the West Indies. He scored 8,032 runs at an impressive average of 57.78 and took 235 wickets at 34.03. He still holds the fourth-highest batting average among players with over 5,000 Test runs.
Gavaskar said cricket has lost its brightest jewel and talked about his ability to contribute in all aspects of the game.
“Cricket has lost its brightest jewel today. The stands are a little quieter, and the game is poorer without him. My deepest condolences go out to his family, his friends, and to every cricket lover across the Caribbean and the world who is mourning this incomparable loss,” Gavaskar wrote in his note.
–IANS
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