Happy birthday Rohan Gavaskar: Revisiting some lesser known facts about ex-India cricketer – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Former India cricketer Rohan Gavaskar celebrates his 46th birthday today, 20 February. The son of legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, Rohan had a brief career in international cricket and had to deal with the massive expectations that came with his surname.

Gavaskar was born on 20 February, 1976, in Kanpur. He completed his education at the St Xaviers Collegiate School in Kolkata and the Bombay Scottish School and Ramniranjan Anandilal Podar College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai.

The zeal for cricket had been passed on to Gavaskar by his father, making it no big surprise when the left-handed batsman and left-arm spin-bowler made his debut in the game.

Rohan Gavaskar made his India debut against Australia in Brisbane in the 2003-04 triangular series. AFP

On his 46th birthday, here are some lesser known facts about Rohan Gavaskar:

— Rohan Gavaskar is the great nephew of former Indian batter MK Mantri. He is also related to former wicketkeeper-batsman Gundappa Vishwanath, who is his uncle.

— According to Crictracker, Sunil Gavaskar wanted to name his son Rohan Jaivishwa after three of his favourite players — West Indian batsman Rohan Kanhai, Gundappa Vishwanath and ML Jaisimha. However, he later changed his son’s name to Rohan Gavaskar.

— Rohan made his First-Class cricket debut in the 1996-97 season. In the 117 First-Class matches that he played, the southpaw scored 6,938 runs at an average of 44.19.

— Gavaskar later shifted from team Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy to Bengal as he was unable to get many chances to play for his home team.

— Gavaskar made his international debut in Brisbane against Australia. He played a total of 11 ODIs for the ‘Men in Blue’.

— Interestingly, the left-hander never played for the Indian team at home. All of his ODI matches took place abroad.

— In 2007, he joined the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) team Kolkata Tigers.

— Gavaskar remained in the ICL for its inaugural season only and later came back to the fold of the Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI).

— He was picked for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but failed to perform well.

— In 2012, Gavaskar announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. He began his career as a commentator soon after.

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