Sunil Gavaskar, Vinod Kambli felicitated at 50th anniversary celebrations of Wankhede Stadium

Two of Mumbai cricket's stalwarts, Sunil Gavaskar and Vinod Kambli, were felicitated by the Mumbai Cricket Association during the opening event of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, January 12. Gavaskar was presented a memento by MCA president Ajinkya Naik.

While Gavaskar is regarded as one of the greatest Test batters of all time, Kambli failed to build on a great start to his red-ball career for India. However, he scored a famous 224 against England at the Wankhede in 1993.

Sharing his thoughts on being felicitated by the MCA as part of the Wankhede's 50th anniversary celebrations, Gavaskar said (as quoted by PTI):

"It is indeed a very big honor for me to be here at this iconic venue that has given Indian cricket so much, the 2011 Cricket World Cup being the icing on the cake. And to be part of the start of the celebrations of 50 years of Wankhede Stadium.

Going down memory, he revisited his association with the Wankhede. The former India captain added:

"As an opening batter, I couldn't miss the start so I am here. I want to wish the MCA all the best and also want to express my deepest sense of gratitude for giving me opportunities since school cricket. I am what I am because MCA lifted me and helped me to take those steps and subsequently supported me even when I was playing for India...I want to thank you all for having me here."

Gavaskar ended his Test career with 10,122 runs in 125 matches, averaging 51.12, with the aid of 34 hundreds and 45 fifties.

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"I remember I smashed my first double hundred here" - Vinod Kambli

Kambli (52) was recently discharged from hospital after being admitted to the ICU due to health complications. While he has still not completely recovered, the former India batter made his presence felt at the event. Recalling his fond memories associated with the Wankhede, Kambli said:

"I remember I smashed my first double hundred here against England and then went onto score many more hundreds in my career.

"If anyone wants to play for India like me or Sachin (Tendulkar), then I would advise that you should keep working hard and never leave doing that because that's what Sachin and me did since our childhood days," he went on to add.

The southpaw represented India in 17 Tests and 104 ODIs, scoring 1,084 and 2,477 runs respectively. Kambli notched up four hundreds in Test cricket and two in the one-day format.