Modern era may never see a Vishy
In an interview with Deccan Herald , Indian cricket great Gundappa Viswanath, on his 60th birthday, shares the memories of his century on debut against Australia in Kanpur in 1969, his experience with various roles in Indian cricket following his
I really enjoyed my playing years. Some people still say that I deserved to complete 100 Tests but I have no regrets. These things happen in cricket. Look at someone like (Mohd) Azharuddin, he got stuck at 99. Imagine how he would be feeling. To be frank, I always expected to come back after I was dropped, but the selectors thought I wasn’t good enough to get my place back in the side. Fair enough. Later, I became a selector and I had to drop a few players. This, I believe, put things in perspective.
Another prominent feature was his exemplary conduct and good nature, which has left a mark on anyone who has interacted with him, on or off the field. He constantly encouraged me during the period I was dropped from the Indian team, and guided me into maintaining self belief and determination. His absolute classy style of batting was a treat to the eye, and reminiscent of an era where lots of high quality Test match cricket took place. In the modern era of abundant limited overs cricket, we may never see the skills of another Vishy flourish, although one has to accept the reality of the changing times.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo