India Legend Sunil Gavaskar Turns 75: A Lookback At His Cricket Legacy

It is difficult to be consistently relevant in an ever-evolving world. Unless, of course, one happens to be Sunil Gavaskar, who is celebrating the completion of 75 eventful summers in his life on Wednesday. It's tough for today's young cricket fans, who have grown up watching IPL big hits, to truly understand the significance of Gavaskar, as often they have a shrunken image of him -- a former-cricketer-turned-commentator -- in their mind.

Now, there are too many of them. Or, perhaps, it's the recency bias.

However, Gavaskar, who tackled some of the meanest pace bowlers to have walked on earth, remains a colossus in the minds of his contemporaries, who fondly recall the greatness of the right-hand great.

"Gavaskar made his debut two years after my retirement. But we have already been told by (late) Ajit Wadekar about a talented Bombay boy who could make a lot of runs for India. Didn't he make a lot of runs," said former India batter Chandu Borde.

So, how did Gavaskar tame those fearsome quicks from the West Indies, right from his first series in 1971? "It's his concentration and a water-tight technique. I have not seen a better stance than that of him, and he watched the ball so closely. Of course, he could play most of the shots but used them wisely. He was a very practical batsman, knew what to do when," said Borde.

Gavaskar scored 774 runs in that series, helping India conquer the West Indies 1-0. 'Lord Relator' immortalised that triumph with a Calypso dedicated to the master batsman.

"It was Gavaskar. De real master. Just like a wall. We couldn't out Gavaskar at all, not at all," he wrote, and to this day it remains a goosebump-inducing number.

Gavaskar is often remembered for his mastery over pacers such as Andy