Heaping praise on India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar said he would have loved to have batted like the right-hander during his playing days. “The way you see a Rohit Sharma opening the batting in one-day cricket, Test cricket smashing from the first over. That is what I wanted to play,” Gavaskar told India Today.

Gavaskar, who is regarded as one of the greatest openers to have ever played the game, said circumstances did not allow him to play as freely as someone like a Rohit Sharma.

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“Circumstances and of course lack of confidence in my ability did not allow me to do that.

“But when I see the next generation doing it, I am absolutely over the moon, I love watching the next generation because there you see progress. You see how they are setting the bar higher for the next generation,” Gavaskar added.

Rohit, who is designated opener in all three formats currently, was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Ratna award, which is the highest honour for a sportsperson in India.

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“Thank you so much for all your well wishes and support throughout the year. It’s been a wonderful ride,” Rohit said via a video message on Twitter. “To receive such a sporting honour in India is a great privilege and I’m very happy about it. I owe this to you all. Without your support it wouldn’t have been possible. So keep at it, keep supporting and I promise to bring many more laurels to the country.

Named the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2019, Rohit became the first player in history to score five ODI centuries in a single edition of the World Cup. He surpassed MS Dhoni to hit the maximum number of sixes in international matches on Indian soil. Later in the year, being assigned the responsibility of opening the batting in Tests, Rohit became the only player to have twin centuries in his maiden appearance as a Test opener.