- Considered one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time.
- Member of India's cricket team (1971-1987).
- He is now a renowned cricket commentator.
- The only wicket claimed by him is that of legendary Pakistani batsman Zaheer Abbas in 1978-79.
- He was the first Test batsman to score 10,000 Test Runs in a Career.
- Gavaskar was also a fine slip fielder and his safe catching in the slips helped him become the first Indian (excluding wicket-keepers) to take over a hundred catches in Test matches.
- He was named one of the Wisden cricketers of the year in 1980.
- He broke Don Bradman's record 29 Test centuries going on to get 34. He held the record of 34 Test centuries for almost two decades before it was broken by Sachin Tendulkar in December 2005.
- In 2001, Wisden rated Gavaskar as the 9th greatest test batsman of all-time.
- Favorite batsman, alongside West Indies' Sir Viv Richards, of former Pakistan captain Imran Khan. This is despite the fact Khan dismissed Gavaskar 10 times in tests, with all dismissals coming during Khan's peak period as a fast bowler from 1978 to 1984. However, Gavaskar even during this period averaged 50 against Khan on a one-to-one basis.
- Captain of the Indian National Team which won the Benson & Hedges World Championship Of Cricket held in Australia in 1985. India won the trophy beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final at Melbourne. Pakistan was ironically led by Gavaskar's batting rival Javed Miandad.
- In 2001, ESPN Cricinfo ranked him the 10th greatest cricketer of all-time.
- Played a season of first-class cricket at the Somerset English County Club, alongside fellow cricket legends Joel Garner and Sir Ian Botham as well as rival Sir Vivian Richards. [1980].
- India's highest run scorer at the 1987 Cricket World Cup with 300 runs in 7 matches. It was also his final appearance on the international stage as he retired as announced following India's defeat to England in the semi-final.
- Wisden Cricketer Of The Year, 1980.
- In his final test match, held at Bangalore against Pakistan, India were set a target of 221 in the 4th innings on a crumbling pitch. His hard fought 96 ended up on an unfortunate note as not only did India loose both the test by a slim margin of 16 runs and thereby the series 1-0 but the Indian batting collapsed so miserably that the next highest score after Gavaskar was not by a batsman but extras conceded by Pakistani bowlers, with 27.
- The Government Of India bestowed upon him with its third highest civilian honor, Padma Bhushan, in 1980 for his tally of 1721 runs the previous season at an average of 86.05 which placed on top of the ICC test batsmen rankings.
- On reaching his 10000th run in his 124th test and 212th innings during the home test series against Pakistan, he was asked about the experience in a post match interview, to which he responded "Others will definitely get there. But the one who gets there first is the one always remembered". The series was also his last as he had announced that the 1987 World Cup to be hosted by India will be his penultimate international appearance on the field.
- One of the 3 cricketers shortlisted for the title of Wisden's Indian Cricketer Of The Century, the others being long time teammate Kapil Dev and crowd favorite Sachin Tendulkar. Kapil Dev ended up winning the vote.
- Contrary to his legend of being the best batsman against the dominant West Indies pace quartet of his generation, Gavaskar scored only 3 of his 13 centuries against the West Indies when facing the quartet in their prime. Also, none of his 8 centuries against Australia were scored in tests featuring Dennis Lillee. 5 were registered when Lillee was playing for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket and the rest were scored post 1984 after Lillee's retirement.
- In an interview to Sportstar magazine, Gavaskar mentioned his batting heroes in his youth were Australia's Norman O'Neill, West Indies' Rohan Kanhai, fellow Indian M.L. Jaisimha and Pakistan's Hanif Mohammed. Ironically, Hanif Mohammed in his prime was also nicknamed "Little Master", a title Gavaskar would gain during his career.
- Brother-in-law of fellow Indian batting legend Gundappa Vishwanath.
- First batsman to score a double century in the fourth innings of a non-timeless test, when he compiled 221 against England at The Oval in 1979 after India were set to chase 438 to win, but ended up at 429 for 8 on the final day.
- Despite bowling to him in only his penultimate test series while himself being fresh into international cricket for 3 years, legendary pacer Wasim Akram considered Gavaskar alongside West Indies' Sir Vivian Richards as "the most prized wicket of my career".
- Was selected as an opening batsman alongside England legend Sir Jack Hobbs in Richie Benaud's Dream XI.
- Infamously scored only 36 runs from 174 deliveries during India's group match against England despite being set a mammoth 330 to chase in 60 overs during the 1975 World Cup as India lost the match by 200 runs. However, his only ODI hundred scored during a group match against New Zealand at Nagpur during the 1987 World Cup came up in only 85 deliveries as India won convincingly by 9 wickets and secured a spot in the semi-finals.
- First batsman to score centuries in both innings of the same test on 3 separate occasions.
- During the 1984-85 home series against England, Gavaskar had Kapil Dev dropped from the squad after the all-rounder played a rash shot rather than a defensive one which resulted in India's defeat at Delhi. In the following test at the Eden Gardens Kolkata, angry crowds hurled rotten fruits at the Indian team for its slow batting, one of which hit Gavaskar. Post the incident, Gavaskar declared he shall never ever play at the venue again, a promise he kept by withdrawing from the playing 11 for the test at Kolkata against Pakistan during his penultimate test series in 1986-87.
- Scored more than a thousand test runs in a single calendar year on four separate occasions.
- Surprisingly, in tests which ended with a conclusion whether won, lost or tied by India put together, Gavaskar averaged less than 40 with only 12 of his 34 centuries being scored in such matches.
- Received 12 votes out of a possible 100 in the polling for the Wisden Cricketers of the 20th Century in 2001, the 12th highest for any player, the highest for any Indian and the second highest for a player from the subcontinent behind Pakistan's Imran Khan who received 13.
- Served as the honourary Sheriff of Mumbai, 1995-96.
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