'Sunil Gavaskar was one of the greatest leaders of Indian cricket', states Kris Srikkanth

Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth recently expressed his opinion that former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar was one of the greatest leaders in Indian cricket history, despite the latter having led the national side for a short period of time.

Srikkanth also expressed his gratitude for being able to play alongside Sunil Gavaskar, and also rated him highly both as captain and a batsman. With Sunil Gavaskar's birthday approaching (July 10), Srikkanth had a special message for him as he spoke on Star Sports 1' Tamil show 'Cricket Connected -- Aattam Thodarum'.

"Sunny! Many many happy returns of the day. Just imagine. I played under the captaincy of a great leader, Sunil Gavaskar and also I got to play as his opening partner. This is all God's grace, nothing else!" Srikkanth said.

Sunil Gavaskar's fifty against Pakistan in 1987

Sunil Gavaskar in action for India [PC: TOI]

Kris Srikkanth also recalled an incident that took place during Sunil Gavaskar's last series against Pakistan in 1987. Back then, Sunil Gavaskar had told Srikkanth that he would score a fifty faster than the Tamil Nadu-based batsman in the same game.

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Notably, Sunil Gavaskar was naturally a more defensive player and Srikkanth was a more attacking player by nature. However, Sunil Gavaskar made this dream of his come true when he took one ball lesser than Srikkanth to score a fifty against Pakistan at Madras in his last series.

"One of my favourite moments with Sunil Gavaskar is the Madras Test against Pakistan in 1987. It was his last series. He always used to tell me, 'Cheeka! One day I'll definitely score a fifty faster than you in the same match'. Finally, this wish of Sunil became a reality in the Madras Test," Srikkanth recalled

"I scored a century in that match. But, living up to his words, Sunil was the first to score 50 runs and I reached my 50 one ball later. I can't even believe that Sunil really did this and also, it happened in Chennai. He played aggressively and superbly in that match, and ended up scoring 91 runs," he added.

One of India's best ever cricketers to have represented the country, Sunil Gavaskar is referred to as a legend of the game, having scored 10122 runs in 125 Test matches and 3092 runs from 108 ODI matches.