GAVASKAR, KOHLI AT QP OVAL – 52 YEARS APART

SUNIL Gavaskar is back in the West Indies 52 years after his epic performances.

These days, Gavaskar is a cricket commentator, who spares time to pose for selfies with adoring fans who remember him as a superstar batsman.

In his breakout tour in 1971, he scored an aggregate of 774 runs in four Tests, helping India to a historic first-ever series victory in the West Indies.

In the two Tests played at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, he powered to 65 and 67 not out, and 124 and 220 respectively.

His achievements were so stunning that he was immortalised in calypso by Lord Relator, who termed the batsman “The Real Master” and conceded: “Just like a wall/ They couldn’t out Gavaskar at all.”

Cricket aficionados still sing the memorable song.

Gavaskar represented India, Mumbai and Somerset teams until 1987, and accumulated more runs than most batsmen.

In his 125 Test matches he tallied 10,122 runs, with a highest score of 236 not out.

The times are different these days.

Although Virat Kohli blazed a century in the Test at Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain – his 29^th at the highest level – there is no similar emotion to Gavaskar of the previous generation.

It is not that Kohli’s landmark isn’t significant.

He is now on par with the great Donald Bradman in the number of Test centuries, and has represented his country on 500 occasions in all formats of the modern game.

This was his first ton outside of India since 2018.

Among active players, only Steve Smith (32) and Joe Root (30) have scored more Test centuries.

As special as Kohli’s innings was, it did not come amid similar passion and fervour to that which accompanied the breathtaking Gavaskar conquests.

For one, Sunil was at the start of what turned into a studded career, while Virat has been on the circuit for 12 years.

But it’s more than that.

In 1971, the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean – and especially in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana – was still fumbling to find an identity, with many devotedly holding a torch for the motherland of their ancestors.

The era of indentured labour had ended in 1917 and political independence from Britain was granted in the 1960s, but Indians in the Caribbean were still finding their feet.

In Guyana (then British Guiana), Dr. Cheddi Jagan had briefly tasted national power before being forced out by the British authorities for his deep-dyed communist leanings.

Indians felt shut out of the corridors of power, and many were relegated to the neglect of rural existence, with limited opportunities for growth and development.

The 1971 triumphs of Gavaskar and others – Ajit Wadekar, Bishen Bedi, EAS Prasanna, Dilip Sardesai, Eknath Solkar, et al – filled many Indian-origin West Indians with pride.

Some fans openly heralded Indian players.

A few women went to the games wearing saris.

The passion was palpable.

But the times have changed.

The political playing field is more balanced, more Indians in the region have pride in their own professional successes, and the last indentured generation has passed on.

Some have visited the land of the birth of their forefathers, making peace with a country of their imagination.

The musical and artistic culture that binds India with the West Indies still inspires sentiment and evokes pride.

But along with that sensation is the enthusiasm for professional and academic pursuits, benefiting from India’s runaway successes in technology, pharmaceuticals and other fields, along with its economic gains.

The dynamics of the Caribbean have been dramatically altered since the coming-of-age Gavaskar touchstone moment.

But the batting superstar would always define a crucial interchange between India and the West Indies.

Now, play that tribute calypso.