No Gavaskar wore a special skull cap under his hat. On the other hand, Viv Richards never wore a helmet in 1st class cricket and he faced the fastest world over and won most of the battles.
This is not completely correct. Sunil Gavaskar wore the skull cap only towards the end of his career or at least mid-way through. I have personally watched Gavaskar bat without the cap till I went abroad in 1981. I have also seen him score centuries in both innings at the Eden Gardens against Malcolm Marshall in Marshall's debut series. Eden Gardens those days had the most lively pitch in India. The ball used to carry through and with the breeze from the Ganges it used to swing a lot. Once in the sixties, a bouncer from Wes Hall reached the boundary in one bounce.
I do not think it is fair to compare Gavaskar with Richards. Gavaskar was an opening batsman. He had to face the new ball and all the quickies of the world. If any of you are an opening batsman, you would know what I am talking about. Even if you field for the whole day or two, you may have to come out and open the innings for a couple of overs at the fag end of the day. There is no night watchman for an opener. Believe me, it is the hardest job in cricket. Also remember, Richards used to come in at number 3 or 4 for most of his career after a formidable opening pair of Greenidge and Haynes. And, yes, he did not have to face the West Indian pace bowlers except at the nets. Of course Richards was a great batsman, perhaps the most attacking batsman of all time and he played that way for a significant period of time (I will tie Sir Garfield with him).
Some of you may know what Richards once told Gavaskar when he chose to come in once in tests at number 4. India lost 2 quick wickets without any run on the board. As Gavaskar walked in, Richards told him, "Doesn't matter when you come in (to bat), man, the score is still zero".
Another aspect of Gavaskar's game many tend to ignore. He had all the strokes of the game. He probably cut down on the cuts and pulls once he started playing for India, because India for a long time depended very heavily on him and his brother-in-law Gundappa Vishwanath. I have watched Gavaskar play for Bombay before he made his debut for India, and he was a very attacking batsman in those days. No problem, many of you probably were not born then
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Regardless of whether he wore a skull cap during later stages of his career or not, can anybody remember how many times Gavaskar got hit on the head or any others parts of the body? He was hardly ever hit even on the gloves. Yes, he was that good. Having played for that long, having opened the innings, that too for India (in those days) without facing enough fast bowling in domestic games or at the India nets, he ended his career with an average of more than 50 in test cricket. I salute him, unconditionally.
Regards.
