'It wasn't easy batting with Sunil Gavaskar, but it was a great delight'- Former Indian opener Arun Lal

Former Indian opener Arun Lal has opened up on what it was like to bat with the legendary Sunil Gavaskar at the top of the order. He stated that while it wasn't easy to bat with someone of the stature of Sunil Gavaskar, the original 'Little Master' made it a point to ensure that the young batsman was at home in the dressing room.

Speaking to Indranil Basu in an exclusive interview on Sportskeeda Cricket's Facebook page, Arun Lal revealed the advice (or lack thereof) that Sunil Gavaskar gave him ahead of his debut.

"It wasn't easy, cricket has never been and still isn't easy. It was a great delight opening the innings with Sunil Gavaskar, he was an absolute hero. Initially, I felt he would give me advice and patronise me."

"But to his credit, he treated me as an equal despite me being the younger person and him being the hero. I expected advice going into my debut, but in the nets sessions before the Test match, there was no advice coming forward."

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Arun Lal on Sunil Gavaskar's encouraging words

Arun Lal and Sunil Gavaskar have become reputed commentators since retiring

The 64-year-old also stated that Gavaskar encouraged him, and said that he belongs on the international stage.

"All he said was that I was good enough to be there. He said, 'you're as good as anyone else in the XI'. He gave me a lot of confidence and he knew I was nervous so he made sure I felt comfortable in the dressing room."

Arun Lal played 16 Test matches for India, and scored 729 runs with 6 half-centuries to his name. Sunil Gavaskar, on the other hand, became the first man to reach 10,000 runs in Test cricket, and retired from the sport as one of the greats of the game.

Since hanging up his boots, Arun Lal has become a very reputed commentator and pundit, and is currently the Head Coach of the Bengal Ranji Trophy team.