When Dennis Lillee said he found Gundappa Viswanath’s batting superior to Sunil Gavaskar’s

Indian batsmen have invariably struggled against a quality pace attack. Getting complements from one of the all-time greatest pacers is something that Indian batsmen might cherish all their lives, and same is the case with Gundappa Viswanath. Viswanath, in a recent interview, revealed that Dennis Lillee had once praised him, saying he found Viswanath superior to Sunil Gavaskar.

‘Was once scared of West Indies pacer’

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When asked if he was afraid of fast bowlers, Viswanath told The Times of India, “Not afraid, but I got scared once. On the ’71 tour, (Vanburn) Holder was pretty quick that time, upcoming paceman. We played a four-day game against Barbados. Overnight, I was 14 not out. One ball which he dug in short, I went to play back. I thought it would go over my head, but it skidded on. There was no helmet and luckily I saw it at the last minute and went down, I touched the ground with both my hands. It was the last ball of the over. (Gary) Sobers walked past me and said `Almost Nari’. At first I didn’t get what he said. Then I realized he was talking about Nari Contractor, that incident of him getting hit.”

Nari Contractor was hit by a bouncer as he had tried to play a similar shot while leading India. As a result, he sustained fatal injuries and had to be hospitalised. Though his physical conditions recovered, he never made a comeback to the national side after the incident.

‘Lillee called me little giant man’

“That night I felt I was lucky. I didn’t get hit. More than scared, I didn’t want to get hurt. Jeff Thomson bowled one spell 1977-78, the quickest I have faced. That evening, (Bob) Simpson was in the same lift and he asked me, `How did you manage that? I kept two fielders there (shortleg and silly-point) and Thommo got all the Pommies there -out of 40 wickets, he got 28 caught there. But you are dropping it down, beautiful. What control!’ I said, thank you. That sort of makes you feel good. You enjoy hearing those things – Dennis Lillee once called me, ‘little giant man’ and said, ‘ I like your brother-in-law (Sunil Gavaskar), but I like you much more. You are made of steel.’ These kind of compliments stay with you. Make you feel, thank God I played and I’m still alive.”