Like the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, India’s legendary cricketer and Little Master Sunil Gavaskar is also an ardent devotee of the spiritual master Satya Sai Baba.

Not surprisingly, Gavaskar came to Puttaparthy on Sunday night after hearing the news of the Baba’s death and was seen sitting at the body of the Baba throughout the night in mourning stance.

In 1977, Gavaskar was once ruled out to play in a Test match against Australia as he was suffering from a thigh muscle injury at that time. He had darshan of the Baba one day in advance of the Test and had applied the Vibhuti (holy ash) given by the Baba to the injury part on his body.

Miraculously, Gavaskar was declared fit on the day of the Test. This was revealed by the famous cricket commentator Sushil Doshi and Gavaskar himself had written an article on this incident in the November 2000 issue of the magazine ‘Sanathana Sarathi’. “I never thought I would be able to play for the Test but after Baba’s darshan, the pain and the injury disappeared and this is unbelievable,” Gavaskar wrote in his article.

In this file picture, Gavaskar was seen seeking the blessings of the Baba.