India's tour of the West Indies in 1971 is a landmark event for more reasons than one. While India scripted their maiden test series victory in the Caribbean, a young and dynamic Sunil Gavaskar amassed 774 runs, a record for the most runs scored by a batter in their debut series, which stands unbroken till date. It's fair to say that Gavaskar had luck shining on him during that eventful tour that established him as India's premier batsman in years to come.
After missing out on the first match of the series due to a whitlow, Gavaskar made his international debut in the second test at Port of Spain. He was dropped on 12 while attempting a drive by the Windies skipper Garfield Sobers and went on to score a delightful 65. This was one of the many field lapses by the home team that aided Gavaskar in his dream run. He followed it with another half-century in the second innings.
In the third test, Gavaskar was plundering the Windies bowlers. However, the nervousness got to him and he popped up a ball off Jack Noreiga, only to be saved by a fielding change just before that ball. If the fielder hadn't changed his position, Gavaskar could have faced different fortunes. The little master ended up registering his maiden test century, aided by a dash of luck.
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Gary Sobers had a routine of greeting players from the opposite team before the match and visited the Indian dressing room quite often. Since the West Indies skipper was going through a lean patch, he went to Gavaskar and in a casual gesture touched him, expecting to share some of his luck. As fate would have it, the magic worked as Sobers ended up scoring three consecutive centuries.
India went 1-0 into the final test to set up a thrilling climax. The West Indies required 262 on the final day to win the test and level the series. Sobers as usual went for a greeting session to the India dressing room. However, the Indian skipper Ajit Wadekar locked Sunil Gavaskar in the washroom. He was apprehensive that Sobers would get lucky by touching Gavaskar and end up scoring another century .
Gavaskar protested as he had to pad up but Wadekar was adamant. Sobers could not meet Gavaskar that morning in the dressing room. Call it a miracle, strategy or superstition, but Sobers was dismissed for a duck first ball by Abid Ali. Wadekar was elated as was the whole of India as the Indian team had scripted history.
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