Remember those heady days of the Seventies! Amitabh Bachchan was captivating the audience with Zanjeer and Deewaar, Kishore Kumar and RD Burman were churning out multiple chartbusters and a certain Sunil Gavaskar was carrying a young nation’s hopes on his shoulders on the cricket field.

Come Saturday, Gavaskar will complete 50 years of his association with Indian cricket — five decades when he has remained ever-relevant taking on a variety of roles.

“Mr Bachchan still is India’s greatest icon and the late Kishore Kumar is evergreen and unforgettable. So if you ask me, I am humbled to have been even thought of in the same bracket,” Gavaskar said on the eve of the 50th anniversary of his Test debut in the West Indies.

So, how was the feeling when he walked in to face the Caribbean attack on this day five decades back at Port of Spain?

“There was elation at finally being able to wear my country’s cap. There was nervousness too because we were playing a team led by the greatest, Sir Garry Sobers.”

His 774 runs in his debut series have stood the test of time but when Gavaskar looks back, he feels that he would have been happy to score even 400.

“It sure took a long time to sink in. All I wanted at that stage was not to make a fool

of myself. If I had scored

even 350 to 400 runs I would have been satisfied,” Gavaskar said.

“I did say later on that I would have been happy to have 374 out of the 774 runs being divided between my hero ML Jaisimha and the large-hearted genius Salim Durani so that they could have kept their places for

the tour of England that followed the West Indies trip,” he added.

While he burst onto the scene in 1971, Gavaskar feels that until 1974, when both Dilip Sardesai and Ajit Wadekar retired, he didn’t feel any pressure.

“Well, there really was no pressure till the end of 1974 when suddenly so many stalwarts either retired or went out of reckoning. That’s when the realisation came through.

“...And with no disrespect to the others in the team (back) then but if the team had to put up good totals then Vishy (GR Viswanath) and I had to get the bulk of them.”

During his 17-year career, Gavaskar never wore a helmet against even the most fearsome fast bowlers because for him, bouncer was a scoring opportunity.

“Look, even when I was beginning my club career the opposition bowlers were bouncing at me. Yes the pace was not as great as at the international level but I had got used to it and I always looked at the bouncer as a scoring opportunity. That way you kept your eye on the ball always and could bail out if the ball came quicker at you,” he said.

And what if he had someone like Virender Sehwag for company as an opener with Virat Kohli at No.3 and Sachin Tendulkar at his second drop position? Would he have changed his batting approach?

“It’s a hypothetical question,” he said.

How about a bowling attack in which Kapil Dev had company from a Zaheer Khan and Jasprit Bumrah? Would he have changed his style of captaincy?

“Never mind the personnel, if I had the confidence that even after losing back-to-back series, I would not be removed as captain, then may be I would have had a different approach,” he answered.