SMG: A Biography of Sunil Manohar Gavaskar

SMG has been a mentor and trend-setter for those seeking to follow in his footsteps on the cricket field, and an inspiration to all who seek excellence in other walks of life. The fortitude and self-belief that enabled him to scale every conceivable peak in his chosen profession continues to inspire India’s youth. SMG: A Biography is a comprehensive account of the remarkable life of the greatest opening batsman in cricketing history.

The book takes readers through SMG’s formative years and the battles he fought on behalf of his country. It analyses his impeccable technique, his hunger for runs, his monumental concentration, his ups and downs, and above all, his resilience in crises, on and off the field, and the facets of a journey that started with him being declared ‘best schoolboy cricketer’ in 1966, to his record-breaking centuries, and other achievements, many of which were unprecedented in cricketing history.

The teen-aged prodigy of the 1960s has evolved into a guru of the game in the 21st century. SMG maps his own life, from its middle-class beginnings, and proceeds to give readers an insight into the mind and the methods of a legend.

The author has been assisted in his endeavor by SMG’s neighbors, friends, team-mates, opponents and fans.

Devendra Prabhudesai (b.1976) is a cricket writer based in Mumbai. He is the manager of Media Relations and Corporate Affairs at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

This is his third book. He is also the author of The Nice Guy Who Finished First, a biography of Rahul Dravid (2005) and Cricket World Cup: Around The World in Seventy-and-a-half Days, an account of the seventy best world cup matches from 1975 to 2003 (2007).