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Garry Sobers 1936-2026: ‘The greatest cricketer to walk the earth has left us’
Cricket legend Sir Garry Sobers passed away, leaving a legacy of brilliance and warmth, mourned deeply by fans and former players alike.
MUMBAI: For those who shared the field with Sir Garry Sobers, it was impossible not to be bedazzled by his cricketing brilliance and be bowled over by his natural warmth.
All of them received the news of his passing with great sadness. “This is probably the saddest day for the game of cricket. The greatest cricketer to walk the earth has left us,” said Gavaskar.
“No words can ever do justice to Sir Garfield Sobers the cricketer. He was everything we dream of becoming when we pick up the bat or the ball as kids. Memories keep flooding back and that’s what I will be holding forever close to my heart. Rest in peace Sir Garfield. You will stay eternally in our hearts.”
Former India captain Chandu Borde remembered the legendary all-rounder with fondness and said the cricket world has lost the most precious diamond.
“I am really sad to hear this, just on the fifth of this month my wife passed away and this is the second shock. We were good friends. I can say, the cricket world has lost a Kohinoor heera (diamond). The greatest all-rounder I have seen till now, I have not seen anyone better than him,” said Borde.
Borde was India’s leading middle-order batter during the period when Sobers was at his peak. The two played against each other in the 1958-59 and 1996-67 series in India. While Sobers went on a run-scoring spree, Borde also notched up hundreds in both the series.
Sobers could bat and bowl with equal excellence. He could also bowl fast and two types of slow bowling.
Talking about the qualities that made Sobers stand out, the 89-year-old Borde said: “He was brilliant in all aspects: batting, bowling and fielding. He could bowl fast, bowl spin, he could keep wickets also. A very good striker of the ball, brilliant fielder close-in as well as in the outfield. What a tremendous cricketer.”
“Playing against the West Indies team was very challenging. He was the main factor. He was a very outstanding performer in the team, what a brilliant team that was.”
On the 1958-59 tour of India, Sobers averaged 92.83 with three hundreds in the five Test series and as captain in the 1966-67 series, he averaged 114 with five fifties.
The debonair cricketer had a taste for a good life. Apart from his love for partying, Borde said he was a racing buff. Taking a stroll down memory lane, the Pune-based former India batting lynchpin recollected a famous anecdote of Sobers during the 1966 Test match at Brabourne.
“At the Brabourne Stadium, Sobers was told that on the final day there is a big race at Mahalaxmi Racecourse. Chasing a target of 192 against India on the final day, he and Clive Lloyd attacked our spinners aggressively and finished the match quickly to make it to the race course in time,” said Borde, who had hit a brilliant 121 in the first innings of the game.
Sobers scored 58 not out and Lloyd 78 not out to secure a six-wicket win by tea time. These memories refuse to fade and only serve to make the legend of the ‘The Greatest’ even greater.
The late Ajit Wadekar, who had led India to a historic Test series triumph in West Indies in 1971, in one of his interviews had said Sobers was his idol. “I had seen him before I became an international cricketer. And I used to love him,” Wadedar said while recollecting Sobers gifting him a new pair of cricket shoes for his debut match in Mumbai (1966).
“When I played my first Test in Bombay (now Mumbai) against the West Indies. At that time he saw me practicing in the nets. He came to me and said, “Young man, are you playing this Test?” I said, “Yes.” And he asked my name.
“Then he looked at my shoes, which were in pretty bad shape, and asked me whether I planned to play international cricket in those shoes. I said, “Yes, these are my lucky shoes and I have been getting a lot of runs with them. And he asked me what the size of the shoes was. I said 9 ½, and he said that’s my size.
“He had this girlfriend Anju Mahendru. So on his way to visit her, he dropped in at my place. I used to live at Shivaji Park. Only my mother was there and she wouldn’t know who Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai or Geoff Boycott was.
“My mother asked him what he wanted. Gary told her he had come to meet her son who was playing in the Test tomorrow and gave her a pair of new shoes, telling her that I must play in the new shoes.”
