Sunil Gavaskar completed the 50th anniversary of his iconic Test debut last week.
The first batsman to reach 10,000 runs in the longest format, Gavaskar had made his Test debut against the West Indies at the Port of Spain in 1971. He went on to make a world record 774 runs in his debut series at an average of 154.80 with 4 centuries and 3 half-centuries as India clinched their maiden Test series victory on the Caribbean soil.
WATCH - Sunil Gavaskar felicitated by BCCI on 50th anniversary of Test debut
Recalling his debut series, Gavaskar on Wednesday (March 10) said he wouldn't have lasted this long had it not been for a couple of "lives" given by the great Sir Garfield Sobers.
"In my first Test match that I was playing, I was batting on 12 and a drive outside the off-stump and the catch went to the greatest cricketer...Garfield Sobers, it went straight to him and it poked out of his hands, I was on only 12, so I got a gift of cricketing life there," Gavaskar said while speaking at a 'Gift of Life' ceremony, as quoted by PTI.
"That allowed me to score a half-century and keep my place in the team for the next Test," he added.
The 71-year-old also recalled his luck in the next Test, in which he notched up his maiden Test ton.
"In the next Test also, when I was batting on 6, I slashed at the ball outside the off-stump, again it went to Sir Garfield Sobers, this time of course the ball went a lot quicker, he probably didn't see it in the background.
"The ball sometimes gets lost in the background and it hit him in the chest and by the time he would recover, the ball again dropped to the ground and I got my first Test century.
"It helped me to keep my career going for 16-17 years for the Indian team. But for those two lives, I wouldn't be here," he remarked.
Sunil Gavaskar retired from the game in 1987 with 10,122 Test runs and 3,092 ODI runs to his name. He hit 35 centuries in international cricket, with 34 of them coming in the longest format.
(With PTI inputs)