Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar's first Test series was a masterclass in defiance. As a 21-year-old on debut in the West Indies in 1971, he scored 774 runs, still a record for a debut series. He did it not with brute force but with meticulous technique and unshakeable patience, and his composure at the crease made him the rock of Indian batting for over a decade.

Facing the West Indies' pace quartet of Holding, Roberts, Garner and Croft, Gavaskar never flinched. He finished with 10,122 Test runs, the first man to cross the 10,000 mark, in an era when he chose to bat without a helmet. His 34 Test centuries stood as a world record for years, built against some of the most hostile bowling ever assembled.

He captained India on and off between 1978 and 1985, leading with the same precision he batted, and was part of the squad that lifted the 1983 World Cup. After retirement, his sharp analysis and no-nonsense commentary kept him at the centre of Indian cricket.

Gavaskar's influence went beyond runs. He showed that subcontinental batsmen could stand up to the world's fastest bowlers, and his autobiography 'Sunny Days' offered a candid look into a mind as calculating as it was courageous. For generations of Indian openers, he remains the benchmark of technique and resolve.