Gundappa Viswanath- the Quiet Genius
Gundappa Viswanath ,the celebrated cricketer of the yester years ,belong to rare breed of geniuses who captivated millions of cricket lover all across the globe with his magical batting prowess and sheer artistry. His batting style which was full of elegance and fluency in stroke making had all the ingredients of a master batsman who wielded his willow to the delight of all. In a career which spanned over a less than one and a half decades he enthralled his admirers with his brand of stroke-play. What amazed his die-hard admirers as well as cricket pundits alike was ability to produce a brilliant innings in the toughest of all situations. He never curbed his fluent and natural style even when he had to come early and in a tight situation. I had the rare opportunity to watch one of his classics produced at Eden Gardens at a fairly tender age when I was too young to appreciate the niceties of the game. The series was against the mighty West Indies led by one of their greatest ever and most successful captains Clive Lloyd. In this series Gordon Greenidge and Sir Viv Richards made their respective debuts. The team had Alvin Kallicharran and others to make a formidable batting line-up. The bowling was led by no other than Andy Roberts. Viswanath produced one of his very best centuries in an otherwise dismal batting performance from India which proved decisive in winning the Test. Viswanath produced another gem of a batting performance in the very next match which restored parity in the series.
He played in 91 test matches scoring 6080 with a batting average of 41.93% and he also bowled to claim one wicket. But what his career statistics would not reveal is that each of those runs was scored in superb style and when his team needed them most.
He captained India only once but that gave him enough of an opportunity to stamp his class as a true sportsman against England. England were doing badly in batting and when Ian Botham and wicket keeper Bob Taylor were at the crease. The umpire ruled Bob Taylor out and great Viswanath was not convinced of the correctness of the decision of the umpire and with the consent of the umpire called Taylor back. The batting duo of Taylor and Botham turned the match on its head and India eventually lost the test match. This is Gundappa Runganathan Viswanath for you!!
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