Sunil “Master” Gavaskar Lets Friends Have A Ball!

Any humble soul who has for the first time been part of Sunil Gavaskar’s annual get together is always keen and eager to receive an invitation for the subsequent years! SMG’s bash — as some would like to describe the coming together of a niche cricketing fraternity — is truly a humbling experience. The Indian batting legend who came up with remarkable defensive skills with the full face of the bat against the World’s best express fast bowlers, actually lets others have a ball for over five hours, but making it a point to receive one and all with happiness and grace. Gavaskar took time off from his IPL duties to mingle with people who have been part of his splendid cricketing journey – from his nascent years to the time he bid adieu to the game and many more from his post retirement career in the media sphere. One inevitably bumps into familiar faces and acquaintances, but it was the first time for former Bombay off spinner Avadhut Zarapkar — he played the full 1979-80 Ranji Trophy season with the legend. “You know I am meeting Sunil for the first time in 24 years,” the Kolhapur based Avadhut surprised one. The presence of Sachin Tendulkar, Ravi Shastri, Sandeep Patil, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ajit Agarkar, Karsan Ghavri, Balwinder Sandhu, Raju Kulkarni, Jatin Paranjape, Suru Nayak, Ghulam Parkar, and a number of first-class cricketers made the “do” a star-studded gathering. Then of course there were his Dadar Union teammates and also Chandu Patankar – at 95 the oldest India Test cricketer and the 94-year-old Chandrasekhar Joshi, the leg-break-googly bowler who played from 1951 to 1978 for Rajasthan and Baroda and bagged 288 wickets. And so the SMG bash truly pulsated, Anil Joshi!