'Marshall, Imran, Hadlee just a bit below': Gavaskar names 2 bowlers he 'feared' the most, picks best batsman of his era

The former India captain was asked to name the two fast bowlers of his generation whom he 'feared', and Gavaskar mentioned names that shouldn't really come as a shocker.

When it comes to naming the best batsman produced in the history of Indian cricket, Sunil Gavaskar is right up there. The former India captain was the first to get to 10000 Test runs, while facing some of the deadliest fast bowlers the game has ever seen.

Sunil Gavaskar is the first batsman in history to score 10000 Test runs. (Getty Images)

When Gavaskar was playing for India, world cricket was filled with dangerous fast bowlers such as the West Indies quartet of Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Michael Holding and Andy Roberts, along with Australia's Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan of Pakistan, Ian Botham of England and Richard Hadlee of New Zealand.

Gavaskar played against all these bowlers and excelled, batting fearless without a helmet. While his ODI record wasn't as impressive as the one he conjured in Tests, Gavaskar paved the way. In a recent interaction on the Cricket Analyst Show on YouTube, the former India batsman was asked to name the two fast bowlers of his generation whom he 'feared', and Gavaskar mentioned two names that shouldn't really come as a shocker.

"Two bowlers whom I feared in terms or pace, and quality of bowling. In terms of pace, I think Jeff Thomson was the quickest and in terms of the ability to get your out any time, it was Andy Roberts, with Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan just a bit below. But Andy had the great ability to get you out even if you’re past a 100. He was the bowler you had to be most watchful against," Gavaskar said.

Gavaskar was also asked to names the best batsman from his era belonging to an opposition, to which he picked the great Viv Richards in a no-brainer. "Who was the best batsman that I saw? I think everybody agrees that it is Viv Richards for the way he dominated the opposition attack. Just took the game away. So he's got to be the best opposition batsman that I have seen," said Gavaskar.