10 Greatest Test cricketers of all-time

7. Sunil Gavaskar

Once upon a time in Indian cricket, there was a Little Master who stood tall against the deadliest of fast bowlers and vindicated what bravery meant. The above sentence might’ve been just a fairytale if not for the living legend Sunil Gavaskar, who for a really long time was the highest run-scorer in Test cricket.

Facing the likes of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thompson, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Ian Botham, Imran Khan and others, Sunny never wore a helmet. This shows his tenacity and character besides the conviction he had in his batting. His contribution to Indian cricket can never be summed up in a few paragraphs.

He was the first cricketer in Test history to go past 10,000 runs and inspired many legends of the coming generation to pick up the bat. A famous quote by English legend Colin Cowdrey perfectly summed up what Gavaskar was – A pocket-sized battleship armed with an impenetrable defence and astonishing gunpowder. The bigger the battle, the better the performance. 

Career stats:

Matches – 125 | Runs scored – 10,122 | Batting Average – 51.12 | 100s/50s – 34/45