When Gavaskar wore the ‘lucky Dadar Union cap’ when India beat Australia in Melbourne in 1981

He played for the Dadar Union Sports Club, one of the iconic cricket clubs in the home of Indian cricket. It was befitting then that Sunil Gavaskar, the former India captain who in 1987 became the first man on the planet to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket, has donated his Dadar Union cap along with his memorabilia to the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for its unique 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 said at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday (August 23, 2025) night.

But beyond displaying his affection for his alma mater, Gavaskar – whose statue with the 10,00th run celebration was also unveiled at the entrance of the MCA Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum – revealed the significance of the cap on display.

“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 evening, after his statue was unveiled along with Sharad Pawar’s at the entrance of the museum, Gavaskar remembered his childhood friends, late Milind Rege and late Hemant Waingankar, who have passed and dedicated the glorious moment to all the Mumbai cricketers who have played with and against him from gully cricket to international cricket.

His wife Marshneil, son Rohan, daughter-in-law Swati and grandchildren Reha and Vivaan were also in attendance along with former teammate Dilip Vengsarkar, whose statue will soon 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 said. “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 mother. “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 said.

“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.”

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