The little master Sunil gavaskar turned 76 today, and on his birthday, let's rewind to one of his most popular childhood stories: what if he was not a cricketer! Well, it was not a choice, but probably by fate he would have been a fisherman. The story dates back in 1949, when two babies got interchanged after being brought to the cribs, fresh after a bath.
The former cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar, cited the incident in his autobiography, Sunny Days, that his uncle, Nan-Kaka, discovered the allotted baby didn't have the hole near the right earlobe that the original one had.
Notably, Gavaskar's mother was admitted to the general ward. And infant Gavaskar was interchanged with another kid who belonged to a fisherwoman. Gavaskar wrote,
“On the day I was born, one of my uncles came to see my mother. He noticed that I had a little hole near my ear. Two days later, when he visited again and saw the baby in the crib next to my mother, he realised that baby didn’t have the hole. So he said, ‘Look, this isn’t our baby!’”
He added,
"They looked around and, because of the hole, they found me in a crib next to a fisherwoman. They swapped the babies and got me back. I had obviously been switched after the newborns were taken for a bath. So, there it is. I could have grown up to be a fisherman!”
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Sunil Gavaskar: India’s Master of Technique Turns 76
Born on July 10, 1949, in Bombay, Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, fondly known as “Sunny,” is regarded as one of the greatest opening batters in cricket history. With unmatched technique and focus, Gavaskar revolutionized India’s approach to Test cricket. His defense was nearly impenetrable, his temperament rock-solid, and his ability to read the ball unmatched.
He was the first player to cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket, ending with 10,122 runs and 34 centuries in 125 Tests at an average of 51.12. In ODIs, he scored 3,092 runs with a century and 27 fifties. Gavaskar also played first-class cricket for Mumbai and Somerset, accumulating over 25,000 runs.
Gavaskar’s influence extended beyond stats—he taught Indian cricketers professionalism and self-belief. Post-retirement, he took on roles as a commentator, columnist, ICC committee chairman, and referee, shaping the sport with both bat and voice. A true legend of Indian cricket.
