Full name Gundappa Rangnath Viswanath
Born February 12, 1949, Bhadravati, Mysore
Current age 72 years 18 days
Major teams India, Karnataka, Mysore
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak
Other Referee
Relation Brother-in-law - SM Gavaskar
Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 6s | Ct | St | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 91 | 155 | 10 | 6080 | 222 | 41.93 | 14 | 35 | 6 | 63 | 0 | ||
ODIs | 25 | 23 | 1 | 439 | 75 | 19.95 | 830 | 52.89 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
First-class | 308 | 486 | 47 | 17970 | 247 | 40.93 | 44 | 89 | 227 | 0 | |||
List A | 59 | 57 | 3 | 1463 | 108* | 27.09 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 0 |
Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tests | 91 | 7 | 70 | 46 | 1 | 1/11 | 1/11 | 46.00 | 3.94 | 70.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
ODIs | 25 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
First-class | 308 | 1147 | 729 | 15 | 2/21 | 48.60 | 3.81 | 76.4 | 0 | 0 | |||
List A | 59 | 50 | 49 | 4 | 4/13 | 4/13 | 12.25 | 5.88 | 12.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Test debut | India v Australia at Kanpur, Nov 15-20, 1969 scorecard |
Last Test | Pakistan v India at Karachi, Jan 30-Feb 4, 1983 scorecard |
Test statistics | |
ODI debut | England v India at Leeds, Jul 13, 1974 scorecard |
Last ODI | England v India at Leeds, Jun 2, 1982 scorecard |
ODI statistics | |
First-class span | 1967/68 - 1987/88 |
List A span | 1973/74 - 1987/88 |
Test debut | Zimbabwe v Australia at Harare, Oct 14-17, 1999 scorecard |
Last Test | Zimbabwe v West Indies at Bulawayo, Nov 12-16, 2003 scorecard |
Test matches | 15 |
Test statistics | |
ODI debut | Kenya v Zimbabwe at Dhaka, Mar 19, 1999 scorecard |
Last ODI | New Zealand v West Indies at Lord's, Jul 10, 2004 scorecard |
ODI matches | 78 |
ODI statistics |
Gundappa Viswanath was a true artist with the willow - his strokeplay,
particularly the late-cut executed with lumberjack-strong wrists, was
nothing less than divine. He was equally adept against pace and spin -
waiting on the ball against the fastmen and using twinkling footwork against the spinners - and he came good when it truly mattered. Though statistics don't convey it, Vishy was every bit as crucial as Sunil Gavaskar to the Indian team of the 1970s. Right from his century on debut in 1969-70, he performed better when the chips were down than any other Indian batsman. Especially memorable was an unbeaten, matchwinning 97 against a rampaging Andy Roberts at Madras in 1974-75. Viswanath often excelled on pitches others found difficult - witness his matchwinning 124 out of 255 on another fiery, bouncy Madras wicket against West Indies in 1978-79, and innings of 83 and 79 against New Zealand on a Christchurch greentop in 1975-76. He played the game in its true spirit: a century had little value to him if it didn¹t contribute to the team cause and he disputed an umpire¹s decision only
once, recalling Bob Taylor in the Golden Jubilee match against England in 1979-80. It cost him the Test, one of only two where he led India, but to Vishy, it mattered more that the game should be played fair.
H Natarajan