Gundappa Viswanath

There aren't many Indian cricketers whom the great Sunil Gavaskar himself admired and also considered better than himself. His brother-in-law was one he held in high esteem. Gundappa Vishwanath, born in Mysore, India on Feb 12, 1949, was born around the same time as Gavaskar but made his Test debut 2 years before him. A right hander, he played in the middle order and was known to be 'a cricket connoisseur's dream to watch'. He possessed strong wrists which he used to great effect in playing his favorite shot, the late cut which was more than pleasing to the eye. Despite an Indian batsman in the early 70s, he was equally good at playing the fast bowlers and spinners.

Vishy, as he was popularly known, made his debut in 1969 against Australia. In a riveting Test match held at Green Park Kanpur, he got out on nought in the first innings but came back strongly in the second to score his maiden century, a 137, which held together the batting lineup after a middle order collapse. It can be safely said that if not for his knock, India would have lost the Test. This became a characteristic of Vishy's knocks over his career. Whenever the situation demanded it, he responded. Truth be told, he was as important to the side as Gavaskar was, a fact the Gavaskar himself has admitted. Another one of his most remembered knocks came against West Indies in Madras in 1974-75. He scored an unbeaten 97 which took India to victory which was ranked the second best non-century by Wisden.

Looking back, his best knocks came against rampaging sides on difficult wickets. That can be corroborated by the fact that he had a batting average of more than 50 against Australia and West Indies, sides which had a fearsome fast bowling lineup in the 70s. He once made 2 half centuries in the each innings of a match against New Zealand in Christchurch on a green top. He scored a crucial 112 in the historical Port-of-Spain Test match when India chased down 406 in the 4th innings. Vishy captained the side in just two matches with India losing one and drawing one. The former Test was the Golden Jubilee Test against England and was made memorable for an incident involving Vishwanath and Bob Taylor. Taylor was recalled to the crease by the Indian captain after the umpire had given him out. This remained the only umpire's decision that Vishwanath ever disputed and rather than bringing him censure, he was much respected for this. To this date, he is remembered for his sense of fair-play.

After retiring from International cricket, he served as an ICC Match Referee from 1999 to 2004.

He also had a stint as the chairman of selectors and the manager of the Indian team. Even today, the first person who comes to any cricket lover's mind on watching a wristy shot played by a batsman is certainly G Vishwanath.

Fact: G Vishwanath was awarded the Col. C K Naidu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 by BCCI, one of the most prestigious awards in Indian cricket.

By Siddharth Prabhakar