Forty-three years ago on this day, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar began a Test innings that went into the history books for the 708 minutes, which comes to energy-sapping 11.8 hours, he spent on the crease to score 172 runs in Bangalore.
The knock against England in the second Test of the 1981 series was the longest first-class innings by an Indian batter at that time. Interestingly, it broke Gavaskar’s own record of 593 minutes he took a year ago against Pakistan to score 166 runs.
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Replying to England’s 400 all out, captain Gavaskar’s century took India to 428 for a slender 28-run lead in a Test that understandably meandered towards a draw.
After England’s second innings had reached 174 for 3 on the final day, the players shook hands as no result was possible. Including his batting and fielding time, Gavaskar ended up being on the field for all but four balls of the match.
Gavaskar ended his legendary career after 125 Tests, scoring a then world record 10,122 runs in 214 innings at an average of 51.12, including another then world record of 34 hundreds. He also scored 45 half-centuries.
He was also part of Kapil Dev’s team that won the 1983 ODI World Cup.