A cut above

Exclusive excerpts from Indian batting legend G.R. Vishwanath’s autobiography

THE NUMBERS MIGHT say otherwise, but brother-in-law Sunil Gavaskar believes G.R. Vishwanath was the better batter. The wristy Kannadiga scored more than 6,000 Test runs and was known to bail India out of sticky situations, often against great bowling. In his autobiography, Wrist Assured, co-written by journalist R. Kaushik, Vishwanath recaps his journey on the field with touching and funny anecdotes, talks about his bond with Gavaskar, and rates the best he played against and the Indian greats who came later. Excerpts:

SUNIL [GAVASKAR] had called me and I could see that he was very emotional. All these years, he hadn’t said a word about my drinking, but that night at the hospital, he told me, ‘Vishy, you have fought it out for India on the cricket field so many times, you have come out with flying colours in a crisis and won so many games for India. For you, this is nothing. You can easily stop this and win the fight for your family.’

His words shook me, they touched a nerve. Sunil had never asked me for anything all these years. I spent a couple of sleepless nights; I couldn’t get his words off my mind. In the past, several doctors had told me that it was time to kick the habit. Obviously, Kavita (wife) and Daivik (son) had requested me to do the same innumerable times. I would give in for a few days, but only for a few days. There was, however, a different kind of impact in what Sunil had said and how he had said it. I decided that was it. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since.