Garfield Sobers, widely celebrated as cricket's greatest all-rounder, leaves behind an indelible legacy marked by unparalleled versatility, record-breaking achievements, and a fascinating personal and professional connection with India.
Key Points
- Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, who passed into the ages on Friday at 89, is revered as one of cricket's all-time greatest legends and the most versatile all-rounder.
- He held the world Test batting record for most runs and highest score (365 not out) for several years.
- Sobers had a strong connection with India, touring twice as a player and captain, and playing two home series against them, achieving a spectacular record of 1,920 runs at 83.47 with seven centuries.
- His first-class debut at 16 against the touring Indians saw him take seven wickets, with Captain Vijay Hazare predicting his future greatness.
- Sobers was briefly engaged to Indian actress Anju Mahendru during his 1966-1967 tour of India, a significant personal event highlighting his global appeal.
Sir Garfield (Garry) Sobers, who died on Friday just days before his 90th birthday on July 28, sits right at the top of cricket's Mount Everest of legends in the exalted company of Sir Donald Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Muthiah Muralitharan and a handful of others.
Widely regarded as the greatest all-rounder of all time, and certainly the most versatile, the left-handed maestro was as a batsman alone one of the all-time greats.
Added to that was his sharp medium-pace swing bowling and a variety of left-arm spin.
To top it, as a fielder, both at slip to the West Indies battery of fast bowlers or at short-leg to the brilliant off-spinner Lance Gibbs, Sobers could snap up the most difficult of chances with a feline grace that made him a treat for the senses.
The greatest West Indian cricketer of all time, he was born in the tiny island nation of Barbados which has produced more legends per square mile than any other in the cricket world.
For some years he held the world Test batting record for most runs and highest score, 365 not out versus Pakistan.
Sobers' Enduring India Connection
Sobers had a strong India connection both on and off the field.
He toured India twice, in 1958-1959 and then again in 1966-1967, this time as captain.
He also played two series at home against the Indians, 1961-1962 and then as skipper in 1970-1971.
His record in those 18 Tests and 30 innings is spectacular -- 1,920 runs at 83.47 with seven centuries and eight fifties and a highest score of 198.
All this plus 23 wickets. Only once was he out for a duck and that was in the only one of those 18 Tests on which he was on the losing side.
In the second innings of the second Test at Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1970-1971, he was bowled by a beauty by left-arm spinner Salim Durani as India won the Test by seven wickets and claimed the five Test series 1-0. It was the first time India had beaten the West Indies in both a Test and a series.
Early Career and Prophecy of Greatness
In fact Sobers had made his first-class debut for Barbados against the touring Indians on their first tour of the Caribbean in 1952-1953, playing as a specialist spinner at the tender age of 16.
A late inclusion in the island team, the teenager had to scramble for a pair of trousers having played all his club matches in Barbados till then in shorts! Coming from a poor family, having lost his father when just 5, Garry's family could not afford long pants and so the Barbados Cricket Association kitted him out in his first pair of flannels and cricket boots.
If the callow youth was over-awed, he did not show it. He batted only once, remaining unbeaten on 7 as Barbados ran up a massive total of 606 for 7 declared in the drawn match at the iconic Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. But it was with the ball that the teenager caught the eye, bowling an amazing 89 overs in the match, 22 in the first innings and 67 in the second, bagging seven wickets in the match -- 4 for 50 and 3 for 92.
His maiden wicket in first-class cricket was Polly Umrigar who till the advent of Sunil Gavaskar in 1970-1971 held the Indian record for most Tests, most centuries and most runs.
In his autobiography Sobers described Umrigar as 'that excellent batsman'. He bowled him for 63 after tying him down with two maiden overs.
Captain Vijay Hazare was most impressed, predicting the shy teenager would become 'a great cricketer'.
How right he was as Sobers made his Test debut the following season against the English tourists and never looked back for the next twenty years in which he played 93 Tests, scoring 26 centuries. Added to this was 235 wickets and 109 catches.
Those figures would have been further enhanced by the two five-match series in which he captained World XI in England in 1970 and in Australia in 1971-1972.
But those matches are not classified as official Test matches.
In fact in the Melbourne unofficial Test in 1971-1972 he scored what is considered one of the all-time great innings, a rampaging 254 against Dennis Lillee at his fastest, an innings which Bradman described at the time as the greatest on Australian soil.
A Global Cricketer and Personal Life
Sobers was a globe-trotting cricketer plying his trade at home as well as a professional in Australia's domestic Sheffield Shield for South Australia and county cricket in England for Nottinghamshire.
As the saying goes, men wanted to be like him and women wanted to be with him.
He had an an eye for the ladies and the horses, being a lifelong gambler and famous for spending the night on town, returning to the team hotel in the wee hours of the morning and then turning out a sublime performance hours later with bat and ball.
When asked by Dr Rudi Webster what his motivation was, he shocked the sports psychologist by answering 'late nights'! Such was his charm and sublime skills.
It was when he captained the West Indies for their three Test tour of India in 1966-1967 that he lost his heart to actress Anju Mahendru, then reportedly 17 years old while Sobers was 30.
It was a whirlwind romance as the tour lasted just two months. They were engaged in Mumbai (then Bombay) and the party attracted hundreds of celebrities.
The marriage never happened though due to his frequent travels around the cricket world and he eventually married Prudence Kirby from Australia in 1969. The marriage lasted till 1990; they had two sons and a daughter.
Gulu Ezekiel is a senior sports journalist and author based in New Delhi.
Gulu's 20th sports book First Tour: The Indian Cricket Team's Historic Maiden Test Visits: From England 1932 To Bangladesh 2000 (Sachin Bajaj/Global Cricket School, Mumbai) was released recently.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
