So far there have been 14 players in the history of cricket who have scored 10,000 Test runs in Tests. Until 40 years ago, reaching this figure was just a dream. Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar achieved the feat of scoring 10,000 runs for the first time in Test cricket. He completed 10,000 runs of his Test run in 1987 during his 63-run slam against Pakistan. In a conversation with a newspaper he has returned to remember these moments.
During a conversation with The Indian Express, Gavaskar recalled this moment, saying: ‘When you hit 10,000 runs, it’s absolutely magical. Magical also because it had never happened before at that time. At that time no one had even reached 9 thousand races and that’s where I arrived. But 9 thousand is a four digit number and 10 thousand is a five digit number. So it was like climbing Mount Everest for the first time.
Gavaskar, while recounting an anecdote related to the India team celebrating when they became 10 Hazari, said: ‘It was a feeling of surprise. What I remember most is that we were in Ahmedabad and it’s a dry place (no liquor). But Kapil had managed to juggle champagne. that was incredible. He was the captain and he organized the celebration with special permission to get some champagne. I don’t know if today’s support staff and sports nutritionists will allow us to even have a sip of champagne in the middle of a test match.