Sunil Gavaskar shared a heartwarming story from 1971 about meeting Sir Don Bradman at the Adelaide airport
The cricket legend welcomed the team and later shared a warm conversation with Gavaskar and Zaheer Abbas.
During the interaction, Rohan Kanhai jokingly referred to Gavaskar, Zaheer Abbas, and Bradman as the “three Bradmans
Sunil Manohar “Sunny” Gavaskar, the famous Indian cricketer and former India team captain, in an interview with Star Sports in 2024, once shared a special story from 1971. He said, “I went to Australia as part of the Rest of the World team, and the team was picked by Sir Don Bradman.” The legendary Sir Donald Bradman, an Australian cricketing icon, is widely considered the greatest batsman in history. When the team landed in Adelaide, the players were surprised to see Bradman himself standing on the tarmac to welcome them, as aerobridges were not used in those days.
Bradman first met his old friend Garfield Sobers, who had played for South Australia. While speaking to him, Gavaskar said Bradman suddenly asked, “Where is that little fellow from India? I want to meet him.” Sobers then introduced him to Bradman, and they spoke about cricket. Soon, Zaheer Abbas from Pakistan, who was also part of the team, joined the conversation. “He came along and joined us, and those were not the days of selfies, of course, but there were a couple of photographs taken,” Gavaskar said.
Meanwhile, Rohan Kanhai, who was standing with the rest of the team, gathered everyone together and jokingly pointed towards Gavaskar, Abbas, and Bradman. He said, “Come, come, come. See there, see those three over there. On the right is the Bombay Bradman, on the left is the Karachi Bradman, and in the middle is the real Bradman.” Everyone laughed, and the moment became a lovable memory in the mind of Sunil Gavaskar, also known as the “Bombay Bradman.”
Gavaskar went on to build one of the greatest careers in cricket history. On December 29, 1983, during the sixth Test against the West Indies in Chennai, he scored an unbeaten 236, which was then the highest individual score by an Indian in Test cricket. A day earlier, he had broken Sir Don Bradman’s long-standing record of 29 Test centuries by scoring his 30th hundred, becoming the first player in history to reach that milestone.
Between 1971 and 1987, Gavaskar played 125 Test matches and finished his career with 34 centuries and 10,122 runs, making him the first cricketer to cross the 10,000-run mark in Tests. He was widely admired for his solid technique, especially against fast bowlers, and is regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time. After retiring, he continued to serve the sport as a television commentator, analyst, columnist, and in various roles with the ICC and BCCI.
Because of his remarkable consistency and run-scoring ability in the 1970s and 1980s, Gavaskar earned the nickname “Bombay Bradman.” The title reflected comparisons with Sir Donald Bradman and highlighted his status as one of cricket’s most reliable performers. Born on July 10, 1949, in Mumbai, Gavaskar married Marshneil Mehrotra in 1974, and they have two children, including former cricketer Rohan Gavaskar.
[VP]
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