On June 5 (Sunday), as England was playing New Zealand at Lord’s, batsman Joe Root accomplished the milestone of scoring 10,000 runs in his Test career. He was the 14th player to reach this milestone in the game’s history. Sunil Gavaskar, a former batsman for India who was the first player to reach the milestone, referred to it as “magical” and compared it to ascending Mount Everest.
In the innings in which Gavaskar scored his 10,000th run in Tests, he required 57 runs at the beginning of the game to reach the milestone. He said that he did not glance at the scorecard very often, but after hitting his half-century with a single and receiving ovation from the fans in Ahmedabad, he realized that he needed seven more runs to accomplish the historic milestone. After he reached the milestone of 10,000 runs, he said that it was a miraculous accomplishment since it had never been done before.
“It was a bit dizzy sensation,” Sunil Gavaskar said of reaching the milestone
Gavaskar said that at the time of his historic knock in 1987, India’s captain at that time, Kapil Dev, had arranged for champagne to be served with “special” permission so that the team may celebrate their feat. He made a lighthearted remark about how it is very improbable that the support crew and the sports nutritionist would allow players to drink champagne amid a test match in today’s day and age.
Even though Gavaskar was the first batsman to score more than 9,000 runs in Tests, he described achieving the five-figure mark as a remarkable and relieving accomplishment. Gavaskar also established a new record by being the first player to score 30 hundreds in a Test career. He concluded his career with 125 Test matches played, 10,122 runs scored, 34 hundreds scored, and an average of 51.12. In 1983, when the tournament was held in England, he was a member of the India side that won the World Cup.
Gavaskar reveals what happened after he reached the milestone
“I was aware that I needed 57 runs to win. I didn’t even bother to peek at the scoreboard. However, if you reach a score of 50, you will be rewarded with applause. When you reach that point, you become aware of things,” Gavaskar said in a conversation with The Indian Express.
“10,000 is a five-digit figure, so reaching that milestone was comparable to completing the first ascent of Mount Everest. I was quite eager to have things done soon. It was getting to me, everyone greeting me going, 10,000, 10,000. Thus, I was extremely delighted when it was over.
The thing that stands out in my mind the most is the fact that we were in Ahmedabad. In addition to that, the climate is quite dry. But Kapil was able to get some champagne in some mysterious way! That was great. As captain, he was in charge of making arrangements, of course with the necessary permission, to get some champagne. I am not too sure if today’s support staff and sports nutritionists would allow us to enjoy even a taste of champagne amid a Test match,” He said this with a sense of skepticism.
