He performed for the Dadar Union Sports Club, one in all the iconic cricket golf equipment in the house of Indian cricket. It was befitting then that Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain who in 1987 grew to become the first man on the planet to attain 10,000 runs in Test cricket, has donated his Dadar Union cap alongside along with his memorabilia to the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for its distinctive museum.
“Dadar Union taught me so much about the fact that the game is bigger than the individual, that you do not take the game for granted, that you have to keep on giving back to the game,” Gavaskar stated at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday (August 23, 2025) evening.
But past displaying his affection for his alma mater, Gavaskar – whose statue with the 10,00th run celebration was additionally unveiled at the entrance of the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum – revealed the significance of the cap on show.
“That cap was worn on the day we beat Australia in 1981 (by 59 runs in the third Test) when Kapil (Dev) came in at Melbourne and took five wickets (5/28). He was unwell the previous day. He took painkilling injections and he came on to bowl,” Gavaskar recalled.
“It was a touch-and-go situation — I am superstitious, as you probably know by now — I had my Dadar Union cap, which was lucky. That is the reason I wore that cap that day — not the India cap — because they had to score some 60-80 runs and they had lost three wickets.”
Earlier in the night, after his statue was unveiled together with Sharad Pawar’s at the entrance of the museum, Gavaskar remembered his childhood mates, late Milind Rege and late Hemant Waingankar, who’ve handed and devoted the superb second to all the Mumbai cricketers who’ve performed with and in opposition to him from gully cricket to worldwide cricket.
His spouse Marshneil, son Rohan, daughter-in-law Swati and grandchildren Reha and Vivaan had been additionally in attendance together with former teammate Dilip Vengsarkar, whose statue will quickly be erected in the Wankhede Stadium premises.
“I am actually at a loss for words because I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by this unique honour,” Gavaskar stated. “It doesn’t happen to everybody that there is a statue just outside the museum where there is going to be so much more footfall to see the museum and every time you enter the museum to be able to see the statue, so that is something totally, really unique so I am overwhelmed.”
Gavaskar referred to the MCA – earlier Bombay Cricket Association – as his mom. “The Mumbai Cricket Association, I have said in the past, is like my mother, held my hand when I was beginning with cricket at the school’s level, playing for Bombay schools,” he stated.
“Thereafter as well, for Ranji Trophy etc. It’s been absolutely just a privilege and an honour and a blessing to be able to play for Mumbai and I never ever dreamt that it would come to this.”
