In a touching moment during the fifth Test match between India and England, Google CEO Sundar Pichai unexpectedly stopped by the commentary box and shared how much he admired Indian cricket star Sunil Gavaskar as a child.
Sundar Pichai , who was with his son on Day 3 at The Oval, revealed that when Gavaskar was a child, his bedroom wall used to be covered with his poster. And he remembered with affection that he was a terrified admirer of Sachin Tendulkar, who is only a year younger than him.
“I just ran into Sunny in the hallway. I used to have a poster of him growing up. Gavaskar was the main one. I was a big Sachin fan. But the irony was, I couldn’t watch him when he was batting. I was so nervous he would get out, so I never watched him much, but really used to enjoy watching him,” Sundar Pichai said on air to commentators.
Pichai’s disclosure demonstrated how Gavaskar’s time helped to unite Indian cricket fans across generations and set the groundwork for the fervour that grew during Tendulkar’s reign. Many people were moved by his story, particularly in light of his own remarkable path from Chennai’s back streets to the top of one of the most powerful computer businesses in the world, which paralleled the ascent of India’s cricketing greats.
Pichai made a certain score prediction throughout the game when Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja increased India’s lead past 350. India eventually scored 396, giving England a tough target of 374 runs, proving his optimism to be correct.
“As an Indian fan, you’re pushing for the score to get above 350, and I think they may get there,” said Sundar Pichai.
With two days left to chase the objective in the last Test of the series, England was 50/1 at stumps on Day 3 and needed 324 more runs. England will be focused on winning or drawing the match and securing the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at home, while India will try to grab the final nine wickets to tie the series 2-2.
India
