Gurusinha pays beautiful tribute to Gavaskar on Indian legend's birthday

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Gavaskar, the iconic Indian opening batsman, is celebrating his 71st birthday on Friday
Gavaskar, the iconic Indian opening batsman, is celebrating his 71st birthday on Friday

Dubai - Sunil Gavaskar's ability to handle difficult situations inspired Sri Lankan World Cup hero

By Rituraj Borkakoty

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Published: Fri 10 Jul 2020, 2:33 PM

Last updated: Sat 11 Jul 2020, 4:41 PM

Asanka Gurusinha's mental fortitude came to the fore when he joined hands with Aravinda de Silva to script Sri Lanka's famous victory over Australia in the 1996 World Cup final despite losing two early wickets.
Chasing 242 in Lahore, Sri Lanka were 23 for two before Gurusinha (65) shared a 125-run partnership with De Silva (107 not out), taking the sting out of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in the most famous night in Sri Lankan cricket history.

Now 24 years after his World Cup heroics, Gurusinha said it was Sunil Gavaskar's ability to handle difficult situations that inspired him as a cricketer.
Gavaskar, the iconic Indian opening batsman, is celebrating his 71st birthday on Friday.
And Gurusinha, during a webinar with Dubai's Tellicherry Cricket Academy on Friday, paid a beautiful to tribute to Gavaskar, advising young cricketers to learn from the former Indian captain's batting philosophy.
"Sunil Gavaskar was a legend. He was finishing his career when I was starting my career. I had seen him play before in 1970s when he came to Sri Lanka, I used to go and watch him with my father," Gurusinha remembered while replying to a question from Khaleej Times on Gavaskar's contribution to cricket.
"Playing against him was an honour, but at the same time it was a challenge as well. So the things I learned from him as a batsman was how he handled situations.
He was never worried about anything. Gavaskar was always playing the next ball. It was not the next 10 overs because he was so focused.
"He was a guy who would leave the ball and watch until the ball hit the keeper's hands. That's what I did when I was batting at number three. I learned about leaving the ball a lot by watching Gavaskar," said Gurusinha who played 41 Test matches and 147 one-dayers for Sri Lanka.
"It was a different ball game back then. These days, if you don't get 300 on a day in a Test, it's a bad day. Those days, 200 was an unbelievable day on the first day because that's the way the game was played," said Gurusinha.

Asanka Gurusinha (right) and captain Arjuna Ranatunga after the 1996 World Cup victory in Lahore. (AFP file)
The Sri Lankan World Cup hero made his Test debut in 1985 -- two years before Gavaskar ended his five-day career with a brilliant 96 against Pakistan on a batsman's minefield in Bangalore.
And Gurusinha revealed on Friday that as a young Sri Lankan international, he had once gone into the Indian dressing room after a game to learn the art of batting from the Indian legend.
"So with Gavaskar, you know, it was about the concentration and the focus that he brought to the game. And I learnt a lot. I was also lucky enough to sit in the dressing room one day after a game with him. I went with Roshan (Mahanama) and we were talking to him about cricket and county cricket. He told us, 'as long as you know where your off stump is, you have won the battle'. He also told us to defend only those ball that are going to hit the stumps," Gurusinha recalled.  
"So what I learned from him is that you should know where your off stump is and when you are leaving a ball you should know where it's going and then don't play defence if the ball is not going to hit the stumps."
Gavaskar's defensive technique had also earned him admirers in Don Bradman, Vivian Richards, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram.
And Gurusinha could not have paid a better tribute to Gavaskar -- the first player to score 10,000 Test runs - who finished his career with 34 Test hundreds, 13 of which came against the mighty West Indies pace attack of the 1970s and 1980s.
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com


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