Sunil Gavaskar is a man of his word. Not that proof is required, but sample this for affirmation, if you want.

On the opening day of the third Test of England’s tour of India in Delhi in 1981, December 23, Geoff Boycott went past Garfield Sobers’ long-standing record of 8,032 runs, the most a batter had scored in Test history at the time. Boycott celebrated the milestone with a century and followed it up with an unbeaten 34 in the second innings.

At an official function organised by the Delhi and District Cricket Association for both teams, Indian captain Gavaskar made a speech, congratulated Boycott on his achievement and told him, “Enjoy it for two years.” At that point, Gavaskar was more than 1,500 runs behind Boycott’s tally. As promised, and to no one’s surprise, the little master kept his tryst with history less than 23 months later, in Ahmedabad against West Indies in November 1983.

This, and other nuggets, flowed freely on Saturday afternoon in Bengaluru as Simon Doull, the former Kiwi pacer, engaged the two masters of technique in a fascinating conversation revolving around all things cricket as part of the Midwicket Stories series, an enterprising initiative that has in the past seen Gavaskar in conversation with Allan Border in Sydney in 2022 and Viv Richards in Dubai last year.

Boycott, who flew down from Cape Town especially for this event, was in his elements, regaling a packed house to several stories from the past in his inimitable style and accent. Gavaskar, him of sharp wit, was equally entertaining, the twinkle in his eye every time he came up with a quip an indication of the wonderful chemistry he shares with the older man and the mutual respect that has characterised their relationship which is more than 50 years young.

A huge fan of all things Indian – a reciprocal relationship, given how wonderfully the country has taken to him – Boycott stated, only half in jest, “If I am born again, I’d like to be born as an Indian cricketer.” If he was being tongue in cheek, it was only half-heartedly; after all, he has been celebrated as much in India, if not more, as in Leeds and in England.

Doull sought to know if either of them would have been happier playing in the current era. “I am happy with when I played,” Gavaskar dead-batted, reflecting on the times when the sport was a lot more genteel but the stakes as high as now, even if the returns were miniscule to non-existent. Boycott wasn’t holding back. “I’d love to have played now. I would have come here with three empty suitcases and filled them all up.”

“Filled them up with runs, or…?” Gavaskar asked, all innocence, of course!

“Money, money,” Boycott came back immediately, as another badly kept secret tumbled out of the cupboard.

This wasn’t so much about ‘oh, our cricket was better than theirs’ as holding forth on the past while celebrating and acknowledging the present. Gavaskar was at his eloquent best as he described cricket’s evolution to the point where it has gotten to today. “The modern game is hard,” the man with 10,122 Test runs, the first to scale the 10K summit, observed. “At the same time, it is great entertainment because there are so many more shots, you see more sixes and boundaries. We were brought up to see off the new ball – to take the shine off the ball. Modern cricketers take the shine off the ball by hammering it to the fence! I like to see the kind of entertainment batting, bowling and fielding offers (today). It’s thrilling to see the players diving, flying in the air, taking some incredible catches.”

Doull, who came into his own after a tepid start, sought Boycott’s views on ‘Bazball’. After acknowledging that England needed to move on from Joe Root – the team won just one of the last 17 Tests under Boycott’s fellow Yorkshireman and that he was a fan of Brendon McCullum for espousing an aggressive brand of Test cricket – he tore into England for ‘stupidly’ losing the Ashes and for their 1-4 debacle in India earlier this year.

“They have gone a bit too far with it,” he thundered. “They want to save England cricket, the whole of Test cricket. But no sir, the objective is to win a Test match or a series. We lost two Ashes Tests and with it the series, playing stupid cricket, and the same happened against India. They came to the series way we have done our practice in Abu Dhabi and all. But bowlers like (R) Ashwin, (Ravindra) Jadeja, they have got their wickets not without talent. Play with aggression, which is fair, but have that bit of common sense too.”

Boycott placed Imran Khan at the top of the quartet of all-rounders – Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were the others – that graced the cricketing world during his prime. “His bowling was fantastic. He could bat – not as free as Kapil, not as free as Botham, but he could bat sensibly. But his captaincy. Anybody who can captain Pakistan is a genius because they are absolutely potty, aren’t they? They (Pakistan) could be absolutely terribly bad, or they could play with passion, emotion. They got talent but they can be so indisciplined. I am giving him credit because in his own way, he would tell them this and that and he could do it himself and nobody would backchat to him. In fact, if I was to pick a World XI, of all the people I played against, I would pick him as the captain.”

It was great fun, this interaction, while it lasted. Unfortunately for all those gathered there, it didn’t last long enough. Gavaskar did, after all, bat for 702 minutes while making 172 against England, Boycott and all, in December 1981 in the same Garden City. Just saying.

Read Also: 'if bcci selectors want to pick rishabh pant for t20 world cup...': sourav ganguly on dc captain's chances