2 yesteryear batsmen who would have wreaked havoc in today’s times

#1. Sunil Gavaskar

SUNIL GAVASKAR AGAINST ENGLAND

The ‘Little Master’ was a work of art. People marvelled at his batting similar to the way they looked at the Mona Lisa. The way he stood and took his stance was a sight to behold.

He played every stroke in the books with such grace and manner it felt that someone had translated the words into action on the field. He played the exquisite straight drives, perfect square cuts, and elegant late-cuts. A few YouTube videos show him playing the ‘hook’ and ‘pull’ shots of the bowling of Malcolm Marshall. Kapil Dev once told in an interview Gavaskar bore the entire burden of Indian batting and hence gave up playing these risky shots.

No bowler could dominate him. He faced Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, and others with ease and determination. He would have scored more runs if he had to face the bowlers of modern times such as Stuart Broad, Shaun Tait, Shane Warne, Muralidharan, and others who despite being great were no match for the yesteryear bowlers in terms of skills, variations, and consistency.

In those days, bowlers could ball as many bouncers as they liked. The batsmen had less protection as compared to what they have nowadays. Gavaskar played all his matches against Australia, England, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. Except for Sri Lanka, all other teams were established and had an array of strong bowlers. Had he played against Zimbabwe or Bangladesh, he would have scored profusely.

The wickets were uncovered in those times, and hence it was very difficult to bat in the initial 10-15 overs of the day. He was gifted with supreme concentration, which helped him negotiate the fast bowlers with no struggle. Nowadays wickets are covered, and hence the effect of dew and moisture is not considerable. Had he played now, he would have scored a few thousand more runs.