Sunil Gavaskar, the legendary former Indian batsman, has revealed the secret of his phenomenal success against the great West Indian fast bowlers of the 1970s and '80s. "I guess it was my height - seriously," said Gavaskar, who's 5ft 5 ins tall. He shot to fame with an amazing run-spree against West Indies in his maiden Test series in 1970-71. He was only 21 when he compiled 774 in four Tests against Garry Sobers's West Indians, with the help of four centuries and a Bradmanesque average of 154.80.

Thereafter, Gavaskar was just unstoppable, and he went on to become the first batsman in Test history to score 10,000 runs before he retired with a world-record 34 centuries to his name.

"When I say that, a lot of people think I'm saying it with my tongue in cheek. The fact of the matter is that because the West Indians were quick - and every time they banged the ball in short, it would go well over my head."

Gavaskar said his height had given him an advantage over taller batsmen, who would have been fending short deliveries off their faces. "Being short was a real big plus as far as playing the West Indian quicks was concerned," he was quoted as saying in Sunsport magazine. "They [fast bowlers] had to pitch the ball a lot further up to get it to bounce around my throat. Not every bowler can do that," said Gavaskar, who aggregated 2749 runs in 27 Tests against West Indies, with an amazing 13 centuries. Against all countries he scored 10,122 runs in 125 Test matches.

Gavaskar said it was always a challenge to score runs against pacemen of his era, and he relished playing against West Indies. "Those days were obviously special," said Gavaskar, who's now a noted TV commentator. "I always enjoyed playing against the West Indies. They played their cricket hard and aggressive, but they also played in a gentlemanly manner, with none of the kind of abuse that goes on in cricket today."

The West Indian pace attack of the 1970s and '80s was more formidable than that of the present era, with Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Sylvester Clarke making lives miserable for batsmen.

Gavaskar said each fast bowler was different from the other, but he was always more careful against Roberts and Marshall. "These two had the ability - not that the others didn't - but these two had the special ability to bowl the unplayable ball even when you were past 150."

Gavaskar rated an unbeaten 117 in Barbados and 124 in Trinidad as two of his most satisfying innings of his first tour in 1970-71. His big deeds eventually inspired the Trinidadian Lord Relator to pen a calypso that still revives memories of that famous tour: "It was Gavaskar/ The real master/ Just like a wall/ We couldn't get Gavaskar at all, not at all/ You know the West Indies couldn't out/ Gavaskar at all."

"Funnily enough, I had no idea that calypso had been written until 1974," said Gavaskar. "He [Andy Roberts] had it on his tape and he made me listen to it [on India's tour of England]. I love it. The lyrics are great. The tune is great. It's very catchy and very popular in India when it's played."

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