The Indian batting legend’s reputation of touching people’s lives and lifting spirits just got bigger, with him organising a cricket bat-shaped guitar for star women’s cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues last week

Past master Sunil Gavaskar jams with current star Jemimah Rodrigues. Pic/Special Arrangement

If watching the YouTube video of cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar taking his opening partner Chetan Chauhan back to the pavilion with him during the 1981 Melbourne Test match against Australia suggests a bit of a temper, you are probably right.

Gavaskar was adjudged leg before wicket by umpire Rex Whitehead following an appeal from Dennis Lillee despite getting, in Richie Benaud’s words, “a big nick.” He had good reason to be infuriated.

But there is a soft, cheerful, witty, and generous side to Gavaskar, which we saw recently when he did the honours in presenting India women’s cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues a guitar shaped as a bat — courtesy sports gear giants Nike.

As expected, the video went viral and Gavaskar gained more of a reputation for making people feel special. Gavaskar, over the years, has been thoughtful. Thoughtful enough to write a letter of encouragement (written on the bonnet of his car before boarding an international flight for the Bicentenary Test in London) to teenaged Sachin Tendulkar when he missed out on the Bombay Cricket Association’s junior cricketer of the year award in 1987. That was before he presented Tendulkar with a pair of ultra-light Morrant leg guards during the 1989-90 Irani Cup in Mumbai; the game that confirmed 16-year-old........

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