SwAmI's cricket Leelas thru Sunil Gavaskar

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LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"> That morning, Meenal was not unduly anxious since her son

was not playing the match, but she continued to pray for her son’s rise in the

game even as she worked in the kitchen. When she looked up, she was astonished

to find a red-robed figure standing against the wall in front of her! With a

thick mop of curly hair on His head, he had a bewitching smile on His face. He

stood looking at her with His right hand raised in blessing. She had never seen

Him before and she did not know who He was. Though she intuitively felt that He

must be a divine person, she was shaken up. Before he disappeared, he

said in a sweet voice in Marathi language, “Do not worry, just wait and watch;

he will score a century!” Meenal was both shocked and puzzled, but was also

elated by the magnanimous blessing. She wondered how it could come true since

Sunil was not even in the playing eleven. She was eager

to find out, who that person was. She walked down to the newspaper-stall in the

street outside her building where posters of Gods and Goddesses were also sold.

The shopkeeper also could not identify the person whom Meenal tried to

describe with her words and gestures. In spite of his telling her that he did

not have any poster of that mysterious person, she insisted on searching for it

in the bundle of posters in his stall; but the effort was futile. A search in a

second shop too did not yield any result. On the way back home, she went again

to the first shop. That man asked her, “How can it be there without my

knowledge? I have

not even placed any order to get anything like that!” But he obliged her by

going through all the posters once again. Meenal’s heart jumped for joy when

she noticed the stack! The name – Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba – was printed at

the bottom of the poster. The posture of Baba in the poster was the same as in

the vision that she had in the kitchen! She offered her first namaskar to Him.

The shopkeeper gave it to her for free, since he had not paid anything for it!

As Meenal came back home and put the poster in the same place where she had

seen the vision, the phone started ringing.

It was Sunil; he wanted her to get this leg-guards immediately to the stadium.

He was included in the playing eleven at the last minute since Ajit Wadekar,

the skipper of the team, was injured in the nets that morning! Sunil had to

open the innings. She rushed to the stadium. When she reached there, Sunil had

already opened the batting putting on the leg-guards of Ajit Wadekar. Sunil

was 71 not out at lunch and he went on to complete his century after lunch. For

the mother, the prediction of Baba had come true. Later in the day, she found

out that Sathya Sai Baba had

announced Himself to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi. She was

overjoyed that He had responded to her prayers. There was celebration at home

in the evening. Hen his mother told Sunil about the miraculous blessing of Baba

for him, his heart spontaneously responded with grateful devotion to Sai Baba

who had entered his life in this mysterious fashion. There was no stopping

Sunil after that match. He piled up tons of match-winning runs in elegant

style. After the tour of West Indies

Tahoma"> in 1971, he was catapulted into the stature of a national hero. When he

finally called it a day after sixteen years of international cricket, he had

created a new world record for the highest number of centuries scored in test

matches with thrity-four of them to his credit. He had scored at an average of

51 in 208 innings in 121 matches. Once while talking to Sunil Gavaskar, I

asked him, “Can you tell me some specific instances wherein the grace of

Bhagawan Baba helped you succeed in your cricketing career?” His answer was

spontaneous and categorical; he said, “There is no specific instance; he helped

me all the time. I

do not have the slightest doubt that without Him by my side, I could not have

scored even a single run!” I should say I was staggered by his reply and

wonderstruck at the depth of his devotion to Bhagawan. He went on to add, “I

always carry a photograph of Baba with me wherever I go. The first thing I do

in the morning when I get up is to offer my namaskar to Him; that is also my

last act before I go to bed.” He continued, “Also, when I failed in cricket or

anywhere else in my life, I felt that He had done it with a purpose to teach me

some lesson. May be I was growing too big for my boots or I got arrogant or felt

proud of some achievement. This attitude has helped me not to get into any kind

of despair at the time of failure.” No doubt, humility is the most essential

ingredient of greatness!

Tahoma"> While playing a three-day match against Victoria in Australia in 1977,

Sunil, who was the vice captain of the team, tore a muscle in his right thigh.

He had excruciating pain and could not stand or apply any pressure on his right

leg. There was no physiotherapist with the Indian team at that time. He

approached the physiotherapist of the Victorian team who advised

him complete rest for a minimum of four to six weeks. He felt miserable since

the test match in Brisbane was to start in ten days, and four weeks of rest

meant that he would have to miss at least two test matches. He shared his

disappointment with his wife over phone. She assured him, “I will send you

Baba’s Vibhuti. You have to just apply it on the injury and I am sure, you will

be able to play the test match!” Sunil could get the Vibhuti through Sri Sushil

Doshi, the radio commentator, three days before the match. Till then, there was

almost no improvement in the condition of his thigh in spite of rest and

physiotherapy.

150%; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> Vibhuti worked a miracle for Sunil; his condition

improved every time it was applied on the affected thigh. Within a day, the

pain disappeared; only some stiffness remained. The captain and the team

manager were surprised and delighted by the miraculous recovery. A day prior to

the Brisbane test match, the captain told Sunil, “We want you to play tomorrow

even if you are fifty percent fit; but the choice is yours. We will not

announce the final eleven till a few minutes

before the toss.” Sunil applied Vibhuti before going to bed. Next morning when

he got up, he was feeling very comfortable! He went for a light jog on the

ground and satisfied himself that he could last the rigours of the test match.

He decided to play and went to score his eleventh test century in that match!

Sunil had the first Darshan of Bhagawan eight years after his mother saw the

vision in the kitchen. It was on the rest day of the test match between

India and West Indies at Madras in 1978. he was the captain of the Indian team

and Kallicharan was the West Indies team. Baba was in

Tahoma">Madras and he was granting Darshan at Abbotsbury in the city. Sunil went

there with G.R.Vishwanath and Kallicharan. Both the captains were under

pressure, since the match was very delicately poised after the third day.

Especially, the captain of the Indian cricket team had a high-pressure job on

hand. This is what Sunil had to day about his first Darshan: “My first Darshan

itself was quite amazing. As Swami came out, it looked as though he was gliding

on a gentle flowing river. There was a glow around Him and the moment I set my

eyes on Him, I felt completely at ease with myself; I forgot all about cricket

and felt completely peaceful.”

Tahoma"> After Darshan, Bhagawan called the three of them for a brief interview

and blessed them. As they were going back to the hotel, Kallicharan told Sunil

in a lighter vein, “We are going to win this match with Baba’s blessings!”

Sunil replied, “We are two, Vishwanath and me, and you are only one. We have

double blessing and we are going to win!” And India did win that match.

Tahoma"> Sunil visited Prashanthi Nilayam for the first time in 1982. Bhagawan

blessed him with an interview on the first evening itself. After the interview,

Baba took him to the boy’s hostel. The student had gathered in the prayer hall.

Bhagawan asked Sunil to sit on a chair by His side. As he sat on the chair

nervously, Baba told him, “Today is Bakrid. Speak to the boys on the

importance of the festival!”

LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"> Sunil was flabbergasted since he never thought that he

could speak anything in the presence of Baba, and added to it, he knew almost

nothing about Islam or Koran or Bakrid. He pleaded with Baba, “Swami, I don’t

know anything about Bakrid. How will I speak?” Bhagawan replied,

“you just go and stand in front of the microphone. Everything will be fine!”

Sunil obeyed the command. He spoke for ten to twelve minutes about Islam and

Bakrid. When he finished, there was thunderous applause. As he went back to his

chair, Baba looked at him and said. “Didn’t

I tell you that you could speak!” Sunil just folded his palms in reverence.

Twenty years later he told me, “Even today, I don’t know what I had spoken on

that day! I just stood in front of the microphone as per His command. He

himself spoke through me!” When

LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">India won the World cup in one-day

cricket in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, Sunil was one of the members

of the team. The famous win against the favourites, the West Indies, in the

finals created euphoria in the country. In 1984 Sunil Gavaskar was selected to

lead the Indian team in another one-day international tournament in Australia

for the ‘Benson Hedges Cup’. All the test-playing countries took part in the

tournament. There were great

expectations in the country. Sunil felt the pressure and heat of the job. But a

day before he left for Australia with the team, he saw a vision of ‘his holding

aloft the Championship Cup against the backdrop of an orange robe’, in his

house. Immediately, he was relieved of all anxiety and tension. He was sure

that India would win the tournament. And it came to pass! That remarkable

victory in the tournament put an end to the criticism that India had won the

World Cup in 1983 by fluke. Once Tony Cozier, the reputed cricket

commentator, and Sunil

Gavaskar were together in the commentary box in West Indies during a test match

between India and West Indies. During some dull moments of the match, the

discussion turned to jewels and ornaments. The diamond ring on Sunil’s finger

attracted the attention of Cozier and the camera. At once, the glittering

diamond in the ring covered the full T.V. screen. Cozier asked Sunil. “How much

does

it cost?” “It is priceless, since it is gifted to me by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai

Baba!” said Sunil Gavaskar, who is himself priceless, having been gifted to the

world of cricket by Baba.

0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm"> - typed from… Sathyam Sivam Sundaram (Life

Story of by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba – 1980-85

– Vol.5) - B.N. Narasimha Murthy – First edition: July 2005

 

 

Spiritually yours,

PREM......Krsna Prem

 

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