Sunil Gavaskar - The world's first bionic man

[Sanz]

He was definitely better than most of his compatriots in the team until the time india had a "sensational" (can be debated) fielder in azaharuddin. He had a pair of safe hands.

He was one of the poor fielders in teh team along with vengsarkar and amarnath.

 

[kvemuri]

while he was certainly not a spectacular or a particularly athletic fielder, he had a pretty safe pair of hands and "he caught as many as he dropped" is not an accurate statement....

That I disagree with, "he caught as many as he dropped" might be an exaggeration on my end but he definitely did not have the safest pair of hands, he rarely dived for a catch half a yard away from him that i can excuse but he did spill a considerable number of catches that went straight to him, as I said Laxman reminds me of him in slips where you never know whether a catch going to him will be caught or dropped. But as he was the best Indian batsmen of his time and the lack of attention to fielding per se both by the team management and the media, the stress on his fielding was non-existant.

 

[Anil]

That I disagree with, "he caught as many as he dropped" might be an exaggeration on my end but he definitely did not have the safest pair of hands, he rarely dived for a catch half a yard away from him that i can excuse but he did spill a considerable number of catches that went straight to him, as I said Laxman reminds me of him in slips where you never know whether a catch going to him will be caught or dropped. But as he was the best Indian batsmen of his time and the lack of attention to fielding per se both by the team management and the media, the stress on his fielding was non-existant.

let's not argue about this but i watched a fair amount of cricket during the late 70s and throughout the 80s and i just do not remember gavaskar as that poor of a catcher.....as i said before, he was neither spectacular nor particularly athletic but he used to catch pretty well from all that i remember....and i do remember some superb fielding from his end in the world championship of cricket and the rothman's cup and the asia cup immediately afterward in '85 and '86....a stunner of a run-out with just one stump to throw down from point stays in mind....he did end up with over a 100 catches in tests....and that too from 125 tests...i don't think he could've done that if he was as shabby as you describe....

 

[viktor]

Gavaskar has 108 catches in 125 matches. Solkar 53 in 27, Kapil 64 in 131, Vishy 63 in 91.

In the Indian context, those are decent figures. I also don't think anybody but Kapil was athletic in the 70s and early 80s. After Azhar, Srikkanth and Shastri came in, things changed a little.

 

[kvemuri]

let's not argue about this but i watched a fair amount of cricket during the late 70s and throughout the 80s and i just do not remember gavaskar as that poor of a catcher.....as i said before, he was neither spectacular nor particularly athletic but he used to catch pretty well from all that i remember....and i do remember some superb fielding from his end in the world championship of cricket and the rothman's cup and the asia cup immediately afterward in '85 and '86....a stunner of a run-out with just one stump to throw down from point stays in mind....he did end up with over a 100 catches in tests....and that too from 125 tests...i don't think he could've done that if he was as shabby as you describe....

true he did end up with more than 100 catches in tests, definitely decent stats and i do agree that in the world championship of cricket and the rothmans cup (particularly in the match where Imran destroyed us with figures of 6/14) he took 3 catches in the slips, one particularly of that still stands out as he dived, yes he dived to take a catch. Again going only by stats we can argue Agarkar and Srinath to be terrific strike bowlers (please tell me that you don't belong to AAAS, otherwise I will have to go and kill myself ) anyways my point is as you remember these matches I remember him dropping regulation catches in slips off Clive Lloyd, Greenidge in the 1983 series (right after WC where we went down 3-0), I remember him dropping Boon and Marsh in the same ODI in the slips in 1985 where Aus smacked us to 292. The worse part was I remember him in the slips not even making an effort to a regulation catch against Pakistan in 1987, can't remember whether it was the Banglore test or the first test but it was a match where Imran Khan went onto score 100 against us, catches which could've would've should've made difference. Although 100 catches is definitely an achievement that I am not going to right off, yet I strongly feel that him being "safest pair of hands" is not 100% true. I guess we have to agree to disagree.

 

[Anil]

true he did end up with more than 100 catches in tests, definitely decent stats and i do agree that in the world championship of cricket and the rothmans cup (particularly in the match where Imran destroyed us with figures of 6/14) he took 3 catches in the slips, one particularly of that still stands out as he dived, yes he dived to take a catch. Again going only by stats we can argue Agarkar and Srinath to be terrific strike bowlers (please tell me that you don't belong to AAAS, otherwise I will have to go and kill myself :) ) anyways my point is as you remember these matches I remember him dropping regulation catches in slips off Clive Lloyd, Greenidge in the 1983 series (right after WC where we went down 3-0), I remember him dropping Boon and Marsh in the same ODI in the slips in 1985 where Aus smacked us to 292. The worse part was I remember him in the slips not even making an effort to a regulation catch against Pakistan in 1987, can't remember whether it was the Banglore test or the first test but it was a match where Imran Khan went onto score 100 against us, catches which could've would've should've made difference. Although 100 catches is definitely an achievement that I am not going to right off, yet I strongly feel that him being "safest pair of hands" is not 100% true. I guess we have to agree to disagree.

i do not belong to the aaas, you don't have to kill yourself on that account....
...and i am sure he has dropped some catches, did i say he was a jonty or a gus logie or an azhar or a mark waugh...? even these guys dropped catches once in a while! i didn't even say he had the "safest pair of hands", i said he was a pretty safe catcher, which i still believe he was.....anyway as you said let's agree to disagree....

 

[Anil]

Gavaskar has 108 catches in 125 matches. Solkar 53 in 27, Kapil 64 in 131, Vishy 63 in 91.

In the Indian context, those are decent figures. I also don't think anybody but Kapil was athletic in the 70s and early 80s. After Azhar, Srikkanth and Shastri came in, things changed a little.

even srikkanth and shastri were not really all that athletic....especially srikkanth was really lazy in the field...shastri was not a quick runner but he used his height and extra reach to good use....azhar was the only really athletic one of these three....there were a couple of others in this list that you missed who sizzled in the one dayers in the one dayers in the early 80s(83 world cup for example), madan lal, roger binny were both brilliant fielders....

 

[quick4mindia]

Gavaskar has 108 catches in 125 matches. Solkar 53 in 27, Kapil 64 in 131, Vishy 63 in 91.

In the Indian context, those are decent figures. I also don't think anybody but Kapil was athletic in the 70s and early 80s. After Azhar, Srikkanth and Shastri came in, things changed a little.

I would like to disagree with Ravi Shastri's name here. He was just like a lazy dog who did not want to move an inch. The poorest fielder perhaps in ages. but he had pair of safe hands. did not drop many of those
and to add to that his commentary is full of sermons on how fielding is an important part of the game.

 

[honestbharani]

Not quite though
I have seen him filding at almost all the closin positions except silly point and short leg. He was a pretty decent fielder who caught definitely more than he dropped. and he was a fielder who was always charged up in the field. (Though not quite a livewire) He was definitely better than most of his compatriots in the team until the time india had a "sensational" (can be debated) fielder in azaharuddin. He had a pair of safe hands.

Dev, Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal, Binny were all better fielders than him. Perhaps even Shastri.

 

[quick4mindia]

Dev, Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal, Binny were all better fielders than him. Perhaps even Shastri.

Well then lemme make my point clear. Fielders are good at their respective positions. A spectacular jonty was spectacular because he fielded at point. same thing could not have happened if he were fielding at boundary line. At boundary line manyother things matter like positionning yourself for the catch, adjustment , timing you jump and ofcourse a very strong arm. similarly every other position has its own speciality. If you remember one match between Aus and SA where gilly was playing along with Heely and was first placed at slips where he dropped 5 catches one after another. and then sent to boundary line by the befuddled captain just to see 2 more dropped.
this just cant be called a bad day (where you drop 7 regulation catches in a day)
And gilly won that match for australia on account of his batting. (The rising of the star)

So point is Gavaskar did a pretty decent job where he fielded and was not as crap as some of us here are tryin to prove

 

[honestbharani]

Well then lemme make my point clear. Fielders are good at their respective positions. A spectacular jonty was spectacular because he fielded at point. same thing could not have happened if he were fielding at boundary line. At boundary line manyother things matter like positionning yourself for the catch, adjustment , timing you jump and ofcourse a very strong arm. similarly every other position has its own speciality. If you remember one match between Aus and SA where gilly was playing along with Heely and was first placed at slips where he dropped 5 catches one after another. and then sent to boundary line by the befuddled captain just to see 2 more dropped.
this just cant be called a bad day (where you drop 7 regulation catches in a day)
And gilly won that match for australia on account of his batting. (The rising of the star)

So point is Gavaskar did a pretty decent job where he fielded and was not as crap as some of us here are tryin to prove

I am not saying he was crap. He would have been at the level of a Laxman or a Dravid, at best. That is nothing to get too excited about in ODIs though.

 

[viktor]

He was decent for that era. btw, Patil wasn't better than him. Infact Shastri used to work hard at his fielding whereas Patil had a reputation for not working at his game. That is one reason why he was dropped from the side.
I agree, Binny, Madanlal were better than Gavaksar.

 

[Anil]

Dev, Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal, Binny were all better fielders than him. Perhaps even Shastri.

man, patil was a pathetic fielder....and worse a lazy one....he used to throw underhand from the boundary! srikkanth and shastri weren't as bad but were not really very good either, the others you mentioned were excellent...

 

[kvemuri]

i do not belong to the aaas, you don't have to kill yourself on that account....
...and i am sure he has dropped some catches, did i say he was a jonty or a gus logie or an azhar or a mark waugh...? even these guys dropped catches once in a while! i didn't even say he had the "safest pair of hands", i said he was a pretty safe catcher, which i still believe he was.....anyway as you said let's agree to disagree....

One final comment on that Gus Logie, Azhar, Mark Waugh etc did drop catches once in a while with Sunny it was more than once in a while and it was never really sure whether he would catch it or drop it. That was my point, anyways you believe he was a safe catcher, i believe he was hit or miss, that where it will stand

 

[kvemuri]

man, patil was a pathetic fielder....and worse a lazy one....he used to throw underhand from the boundary! srikkanth and shastri weren't as bad but were not really very good either, the others you mentioned were excellent...

THAT I agree Patil was the worst offender of all, he was the laziest goon and he and Amarnath were damn horrible in this department, they couldn't or better yet wouldn't bend their back to take even the simplest of catches. On the other hand Srikanth and even Vengsarkar (both used to field at slips or silly point for spinners) did there job of close in catching. If i had to rank Indian teams off 1980's by fielding it would be something like this

Azhar
Kirmani (wk)
Binny
Madan Lal
Kapil
Srikanth
Shastri
Vengsarkar
Gavaskar
Azad
Yashpal
Sandhu
Amarnath
finally Patil

 

[Sanz]

Azhar
Kirmani (wk)
Binny
Madan Lal
Kapil
Srikanth
Shastri
Vengsarkar
Gavaskar
Azad
Yashpal
Sandhu
Amarnath
finally Patil

Gavaskar was better than Vengsarkar. Rest I agree with the top half, dont know much about yashpal, Azad, Sandhu fielding. I do know that Patil and amarnath were the worst of fielders.

 

[kvemuri]

Gavaskar was better than Vengsarkar. Rest I agree with the top half, dont know much about yashpal, Azad, Sandhu fielding. I do know that Patil and amarnath were the worst of fielders.

Sandhu was barely above Amarnath and Patil, actually that list missed Maninder Singh, one of the better fielders India produced. He should be above Madan Lal.

Edit: The thing that absolutely surprises me is that, in the various so called discussion boards I have read recently, Indian fans, same guys who want Ganguly back in, want Greg Chappell to be replaced by either Amarnath or Patil, can only shake my head. Our fielding of the last 6 months has been top notch, I truly believe comparable to Aussies or Saffies. I wonder how much of a stress would the likes of a Patil or Amarnath give on fielding per se.

 

[Sanz]

in the various so called discussion boards I have read recently, Indian fans, same guys who want Ganguly back in, want Greg Chappell to be replaced by either Amarnath or Patil, can only shake my head.

Well, I consider myself a huge ganguly fan and I dont want him anywhere near our ODI team. He was a great odi player. As for coach chappell, I dont like his ways, India is doing well in ODIs and all credit to him, but at the same time India is lagging in tests. All I can say is, our ODI success isn't a fluke and GC is doing a lot of things right.

That said, I would take anyone ahead of Amarnath. Patil is okay as a coach but he had this job before and he wasn't too successful with it.

 

[Anil]

On the other hand Srikanth and even Vengsarkar (both used to field at slips or silly point for spinners) did there job of close in catching.

srikkanth was pretty good was forward shortleg and vengsarkar was at silly point....true...

 

[honestbharani]

man, patil was a pathetic fielder....and worse a lazy one....he used to throw underhand from the boundary! srikkanth and shastri weren't as bad but were not really very good either, the others you mentioned were excellent...

I got that from an interview on The Sportstar. And I am sorry, it should have been Yashpal Sharma, not Sandeep Patil. I stand corrected.