Reviving the top four golden moments from Sunil Gavaskar's career on his birthday

Arguably one of the greatest batsmen to grace the game of cricket ever, Sunil Gavaskar had a principal role in keeping India prominent enough on the World Map as far as the sport was concerned.

That he played during the period of time in cricket known for a deadly spin and fiery pace-bowling, makes his achievements even more amazing.

Nicknamed "Sunny", the Indian opener fondly called "the Little Master" lived true to that description as he mastered his way across cricket grounds all over the world.

Even after he discontinued from direct involvement in the game, he lingered on as a commentator, motivator and so on, bringing out the best in an entire cricketing generation including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, who all looked up to him as their role-model.

Sunil Gavaskar is widely regarded as the most successful opening batsman ever. Perfect technique combined with a rock-solid defence and extreme levels of concentration, helped the man from Mumbai to build his game.

There was no particular area in batting where he was weak as - he was equally strong off both feet, and was also an excellent timer of the ball. For those of us who haven't witnessed his games in real, his statistics do help - being the highest run-scorer in Test matches and the person with most centuries in the same format for some points of time, his numbers are indeed mind-boggling.

In many ways, Gavaskar is also responsible for India's cricket general, to be looked upon with respect over the world.

Teaching his often-underperforming team-mates the virtue of professionalism, Gavaskar played a major role in Indian cricket returning back to glory days.

Born July 10, 1949, the Indian batting prodigy celebrates his 69th birthday today, and on the occasion, let's take a look at some of the Golden moments from his career, in chronological order.

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#1 Gavaskar's debut series, 1971 Feb-Apr

Gavaskar playing in a tour match in 1971

His inclusion into the squad was met with more than a tinge of scepticism at first, but soon afterwards, all doubts were quelled as Gavaskar smashed a series of records. Known for his ability to tackle fast bowling, Gavaskar was solid in defence against the lethal Windies pace-bowling bullies.

He began scoring a 65 and 67 not out on debut, winning the match for India in what was the only result-producing game of the series. By the end of the five-match series that India won 1-0, the opener had amassed 774 runs from the four games he played, at an astounding average of 154.80.

The tally still remains as the highest amount of runs scored by an individual batsman in an individual series. Gavaskar was named India's Best Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1966. He was just seventeen years old then.

His consistent performances got him into the Mumbai Ranji circuit, where he made his debut in the 1968-1969 season.

A couple more years of more commanding batting performances and he soon found himself donning the whites for India against West Indies, in 1971.

Four hundreds and three fifties formed a major part of Gavaskar's debut series. In the final Test match of the series, he smashed a ton in the first innings and a double ton in the second one, becoming the only batsman after Doug Walters to achieve the feat.

#2 When Gavaskar scored 101 runs against England at Old Trafford, Manchester, June 6, 1974

An iconic image from the game in 1974

Gavaskar's knock, however, gained attention among critics as the pitch was widely regarded as unfavourable for any opposition.

Gavaskar himself rates his knock as one of the best he has ever played. India was just gaining strength in the International cricket circuits when Gavaskar and co. toured England on a three-match Test series after which they also played two ODIs.

In what was a very disastrous event, India returned home by losing all its games. The only positive highlight from the first Test match of the series that India lost by 113 runs, is Sunil Gavaskar's patient 101.

As all the other Indian batsmen huffed and puffed their way back into the pavilion, Gavaskar's resolute knock helped India post 246 on board, in reply to England's 328/9 decl. Put to bat again, the English ended proceedings at 213/3 decl., and gave India a target of 295 runs, which India could not complete, as they folded for 182.

#3 Gavaskar in West Indies, 1976 January 24-28

Sunil Gavaskar in a crucial knock that helped Indians win at the Windies

Put to bat first, Windies scored 359 and established their hold over the game, strengthening it up by bowling the Indians out for just 228 by the half of the second day.

Alvin Kallicharan's ton in the second innings meant that Windies would safely finish yet again, which they did at 271/6 decl. India's chances for a win were very bleak with 403 required, a target that has so far never been achieved in the fourth innings.

In the summer of 1976, Gavaskar returned to West Indies, the same place which had seen his meteoric rise as a batsman in Test cricket five years prior.

After being outplayed in the first match of the four-Test series at Barbados, India needed a win to draw the series. Yet it did not seem to happen until the last day.

Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath then went on to script the unthinkable, as the Indians eventually won by four wickets, riding on the duo's hundreds.

The triumph also set the record as the highest successful run chase in Test matches, until it was broken in 2003 by the Windies against Australia.

#4 Gavaskar scores a memorable 221 against England at the Oval, 1979 August 30 - September 4

Gavaskar in all his glory

In the fourth and last Test against England at the Oval, England batted first and posted 305 runs, thanks to the likes of Graham Gooch. India could muster only 202 in return, and by the time the English concluded their second innings at 334/8 decl., India needed 438 runs to win.

No other team had managed a win with such a high target to acquire, previously, and all hopes were on Gavaskar, who was the chief architect of the win against Windies three years earlier when the target was 403.

He promptly responded, tackling the British bowling fair and square, on his way to a memorable 221.

However, wickets fell at regular intervals on the other end, and soon enough, India was 424/8 needing 15 with two wickets in hand in the last over. With just five runs scored out of it, India settled for the draw, destroying hopes of a record-breaking run chase. Gavaskar was, however, the man of the moment, whose gritty innings almost resulted in a grand victory.

Results were no different in 1979 when India toured England yet again, 1979. After performing very dismally against the likes of West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, losing Test matches against all of them, India played England and the result was not different by the end of the first game. It was a season worth forgetting for the team.

However, they saved their best for the last, when they came agonisingly close to pulling off what would have been one of the great Test run chases in history.

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Which is your favourite moment from Gavaskar's illustrious career? Sound off in the comments section below!