There is a story Sunil Gavaskar tells about the day he was born. July 10, 1949. A general ward in a Bombay hospital. A tiny hole near the top of his left earlobe that his maternal uncle, Nan-Kaka, had noticed shortly after birth.
When the uncle returned the next day, the baby in the crib beside his sister had no such mark. A search began. They found him eventually, lying in a crib beside a fisherwoman, swapped by mistake, almost lost to a different life entirely.
Gavaskar has laughed about this ever since. He jokes that his tendency to fish outside the off-stump later in his career was probably inherited from that brief brush with a fisherwoman’s destiny. But the deeper truth of that moment never left him. He was marked. He was meant for something specific. The universe had nearly made a mistake, and his uncle’s vigilance had corrected it.
This sense of being destined for a particular path shaped everything that followed. Growing up in a middle-class Marathi family in Bombay, Gavaskar learned early that his surname carried weight. His father, Manohar Gavaskar, was a solid man of business.
His uncle, Madhav Mantri, had played Test cricket for India. The message was clear. Cricket was not a hobby. It was a profession to be mastered with the same seriousness one brought to accounts and ledgers.
The three Ds and the price of a wicket
At St Xavier’s High School, Gavaskar was named India’s best schoolboy cricketer in 1966. But this was not a time when cricket made you rich. It was a time when cricket got you a job. The best players in Bombay worked for the Tatas, for ACC, for Nirlon.
They played for corporate teams in the Times of India Shield and reported to offices on Monday mornings. Gavaskar followed this template with military precision. Three hours of practice in the morning. School. Three more hours in the evening. The schedule created what he would later call the Three Ds.
Dedication. Determination. Discipline.
The most important lesson came from his uncle Mantri. After a double century in a school match, young Sunil threw his wicket away trying to hit a six. Mantri was furious. He told the boy he must always put a price on his wicket. Never give it away cheaply.
This philosophy became the foundation of Gavaskar’s batting. He would score 10,122 Test runs at an average of 51.12. He would face the West Indian fast bowlers without a helmet, relying on technical precision alone. He would become the first man to reach 10,000 Test runs, breaking Don Bradman’s record of 29 centuries along the way.
But that lesson about the price of a wicket also became the foundation of his business philosophy. Gavaskar would later be described by advertising legend Prahlad Kakkar as the first Indian cricketer to raise the ante for endorsements.
Before Gavaskar, players took what they were offered. After Gavaskar, players knew their value. He paved the way for the multi-million dollar contracts that Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli would command decades later.
1971: The debut that built an empire
Gavaskar’s entry into international cricket was not gradual. It was explosive. In 1971, he toured the West Indies with the Indian team. He missed the first Test with a nail infection. In the remaining four Tests, he scored 774 runs at average of 154.80.
This remains the world record for a debutant in a series. More importantly, India won its first-ever series in the Caribbean.
The significance extended beyond the statistics. India had never beaten the West Indies. The Caribbean teams of that era were becoming the dominant force in world cricket, with fast bowlers who terrorized batsmen worldwide.
Gavaskar faced them without a helmet, his technique so precise that he made the dangerous look routine. He became a national hero not just because he scored runs, but because he did it against the best, in their own backyard, with a style that suggested Indian cricket had come of age.
This series established Brand Gavaskar. The Little Master. The technician who could survive any storm. The man who put a price on his wicket and made you pay dearly to get it. This brand would become the template for his business career. Technical excellence. Patience. The refusal to take unnecessary risks.
The Oval 1979: Risk management as art
Eight years after his debut, Gavaskar played an innings that business schools should study.
India were chasing 438 to win the fourth Test at The Oval. No team had ever made that many to win in the fourth innings. Gavaskar opened the batting and scored 221. He batted for over eight hours, transforming from defensive anchor to calculated aggressor as the situation demanded.
India fell short by nine runs. But the innings became legendary. It was risk management disguised as batting. Gavaskar understood that the target was nearly impossible, so he broke it down into smaller targets.
Sessions. Hours. Overs. He managed the risk of each delivery, each over, each hour, building toward a larger goal without ever losing sight of the immediate danger.
This is exactly how he would later approach business negotiations. Start slowly. Get the hang of the terrain. Then expand once the foundation is secure. Never gamble everything on one shot. Build incrementally. Let the opposition tire themselves out against your defence. Then strike when the time is right.
PMG: The Birth of sports management in India
In October 1985, two years before his final international appearance, Gavaskar did something unprecedented. He co-founded the Professional Management Group with advertising executive Sumedh Shah.
This was India’s first dedicated sports marketing firm. The inspiration came from Mark McCormack’s International Management Group, which had revolutionized athlete representation in the West. But Gavaskar and Shah understood that India needed a different approach.
The founding moment came when Shah asked Gavaskar what he charged for an endorsement. Gavaskar admitted he did not know.
Shah told him this ignorance was the primary obstacle to professionalizing Indian sports. If athletes did not know their value, they would always be underpaid. PMG was created to solve this problem.
Their first major venture was a lesson in market reality. They brought the Swedish Davis Cup team to India. Mats Wilander was world number one. Stefan Edberg was rising. PMG secured these players for a fraction of their global fees. But Indian advertisers were not interested.
They kept asking if John McEnroe was coming. The event lost money. But it taught Gavaskar a crucial lesson. In India, sports marketing meant cricket. Everything else was secondary.
PMG pivoted. They pioneered the sponsored syndicated column in 1986, allowing Gavaskar and other stars to write expert pieces sponsored by brands. This brought elite cricket analysis to regional newspapers that could never afford direct contracts with national stars.
They produced Sunil Gavaskar Presents, the first sports show on Indian television that bypassed the Doordarshan monopoly on commentary style. They developed interactive CD-ROMs and VHS coaching tapes with Citibank, early prototypes for the digital sports content that would dominate the 21st century.
By 2022, PMG was reporting revenue of 1.63 million dollars, focused on sponsorships and consulting. The company Gavaskar built while still playing had outlasted his playing career by decades.
Commentary: The second career that never ends
Gavaskar’s second career began before his first one ended. He entered the commentary box with the same technical rigour he brought to the crease. Today, he is one of the highest-paid commentators in the world.
He earned approximately 4.17 crore rupees for a single IPL season in 2025. As per a Sportskeeda report, Gavaskar reportedly earns around Rs 2.14 lakh per match and close to Rs 47.24 lakh for an entire series as a commentator.
Over the years, he is said to have made nearly Rs 35.92 crore from commentary alone, along with about Rs 18.9 crore from his IPL assignments since the tournament began.
But this is not just about money. Commentary became Gavaskar’s way of protecting and extending his brand. He speaks with what critics call resolute zeal. He focuses on technical details that younger commentators miss.
This mirrors his batting exactly. He guarded his off-stump with his life. Now he guards the integrity of cricket analysis with the same intensity.
In 2025, he successfully petitioned the Delhi High Court to protect his personality rights, restraining entities from using his name, images, or persona through deepfakes or AI without consent. Brand Gavaskar is a valuable commercial asset, and he protects it with the vigilance he once used against the West Indian fast bowlers.
Real estate: The tangible foundation
While other cricketers invested in restaurants that failed or fashion labels that faded, Gavaskar put his money into brick and mortar. His real estate portfolio spans Mumbai, Goa and Dubai.
In Mumbai, he owns a nine-storey sea-facing building in Worli, one of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods. The property has appreciated enormously over the decades.
In North Goa, he purchased the Isprava Villa Vivre in 2017 for 20 crore rupees. The 5,000-square-foot luxury home represents his understanding that wealth must include places of rest and family gathering.
In Dubai, he has been a long-term ambassador for The First Group, a property developer. He has personally invested in their project called The One at Jumeirah Village Triangle, a 599-room luxury hotel. This is not just an investment. It is a strategic position in a global market where Indian money increasingly flows.
His recent brand ambassadorship with Agami Realty reinforces his philosophy of legacy over trend. He represents quiet luxury and permanence. Real estate, for Gavaskar, is the opening batsman’s investment. Safe. Solid. Appreciating slowly but surely over time.
The startup bets: Qwicket and Triton
In recent years, Gavaskar has ventured into startups, but always with his characteristic caution and narrative drive.
In 2019, he bought a significant stake in Binca Games, a Mumbai-based startup founded by Sahil and Rubianca Wadhwa. His motivation was personal. He wanted to encourage quality time with loved ones in an increasingly digital world.
The investment resulted in Qwicket, a cricket card game that mirrors the strategic decision-making of actual matches. Gavaskar saw a social problem, screen addiction and created a business solution that also leveraged his cricketing persona.
In 2024, he joined the board of Triton Solar as Worldwide Sports Ambassador.
This was a shift toward technology and national building. Triton produces solar energy solutions, and Gavaskar linked his involvement to the mission of rural electrification in India.
This is not a passive endorsement. It is a strategic position in a company addressing one of India’s most pressing infrastructure challenges. These investments show Gavaskar’s evolution from sportsman-entrepreneur to corporate strategist.
He is no longer just selling his name. He is aligning his brand with ventures that solve real problems, from family disconnection to energy poverty.
Equipment loyalty: SG and the long partnership
Since early 80s, Gavaskar has been associated with Sanspareils Greenlands, the SG brand. This is one of the longest-running partnerships in cricket history. While other players switch sponsors with every season, Gavaskar has stayed loyal to SG for over four decades.
The relationship began when he was rising through the ranks. His loyalty to SG is not contractual. It is personal. It reflects his wider philosophy about business relationships. Find good partners. Stick with them. Let the relationship compound over time.
This is the opposite of the modern approach, where athletes switch brands every two years for marginal gains.
Gavaskar understood that long-term association builds trust with consumers. When you see Gavaskar with an SG bat, you know it is not a paid transaction. It is a lifetime partnership.
Pickleball gamble: Dilli Dillwale
In 2024, Gavaskar made a surprising move. He became co-owner of the Dilli Dillwale franchise in the World Pickleball League. He partnered with his son Rohan Gavaskar and business figures like Prashant Chokhani and Prasenjit Dey.
Pickleball is a rising sport in India, still niche but growing rapidly. Gavaskar’s entry shows his willingness to back new ventures when he sees long-term potential. He is investing in the infrastructure of a sport that could become huge in India. This is early-stage venture capital applied to sports ownership.
The move also reflects his understanding of legacy. His son Rohan is involved, suggesting a family transition of business interests.Gavaskar is building something that will outlast his own involvement, just as he built PMG to outlast his playing days.
The Third Innings: Beyond the pitch
After the applause faded and the records were sealed, Gavaskar chose a different scoreboard. One that had nothing to do with runs.
The CHAMPS Foundation: Standing by Forgotten Heroes
In January 1999, The CHAMPS Foundation was formed to support former Indian international athletes who had fallen on hard times.
The foundation was started by Sunil Gavaskar along with Late Nana Chudasama, Khalid Ansari, Mrs. Marshniel Gavaskar and former India cricketer Gundappa Viswanath.
CHAMPS stands for Caring, Helping, Assisting, Motivating and Promoting Sportspersons.
At that time, India had many trusts for education and health. But none focused only on retired international athletes. Hockey players. Boxers. Footballers. Table tennis champions. Men and women who once wore India colours but later struggled financially.
CHAMPS filled that gap.
Over the years, it has quietly supported several former sportspersons with financial assistance and dignity. Today, the board includes Sam Balsara and Noomi Mehta, continuing the original vision.
This is Gavaskar the institution builder.
Saving little hearts: A different kind of century
If runs defined his first innings, children define his third.
Gavaskar serves as Chair of Heart to Heart Foundation and is a Trustee of Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Centres for Child Heart Care.
These centres provide completely free heart surgeries for children born with congenital heart disease. No caste. No religion. No nationality. Just treatment.
In tribute to his 34 international centuries, Gavaskar sponsors 34 child heart surgeries every year.
Think about that. Thirty four lives, every single year.
He has often described this as his most fulfilling third innings.
The integrated professional
Sunil Gavaskar’s estimated net worth of 257 crore rupees, approximately 30 million dollars, puts him among the wealthiest former cricketers in the world. But the number is less interesting than how he built it.
He started by understanding his value. The uncle’s lesson about the price of a wicket became a life philosophy. He founded PMG while still playing, creating an institution that would generate income for decades.
He invested in real estate for stability and startups for growth. He maintained a commentary career that keeps him relevant and wealthy. He protected his brand legally and reputationally. He gave back through philanthropy.
Every business decision reflects his batting style. Risk-averse but not risk-free. Patient but not passive. Technical and precise. Focused on the long game rather than quick thrills.
The Little Master who faced the West Indian fast bowlers without a helmet is now the elder statesman of Indian sports business. He proved that the traits of an opening batsman, discipline, concentration, the refusal to give your wicket away cheaply, translate perfectly to the boardroom.
He is the bridge between the amateur era and the commercial age, the man who showed Indian athletes that they could be professionals in every sense of the word.
The boy who was swapped at birth and almost lost to a fisherwoman’s fate instead became the architect of India’s first sporting fortune. He put a price on his wicket. And when the innings finally ends, the scoreboard will show not just runs and centuries, but a life lived with the same integrity in business as in sport.
Editorial Note: This profile is based on original reporting, including direct communication with Mr. Raghu from the management team of Sunil Gavaskar, who shared official inputs on Mr. Gavaskar’s third innings. To ensure a comprehensive perspective, FinancialExpress.com has corroborated relevant information with public records and other credible sources. This content is not sponsored, and FinancialExpress.com retains full editorial independence and final authority over all editorial decisions.