Gavaskar played 125 Tests and 108 ODIs for the country.
Gavaskar made his international debut in 1971 against West Indies and went on to play 125 Tests for the country. He was the first batsman to reach the 10,000-run milestone in the longest format of the game.
Gavaskar's greatness can be gauged by the fact that he amassed most Test runs (2749) against the feared West Indies pace attack of the 1970s and 80s. He scored 9,607 runs as an opener, which is the second highest in Test cricket behind Sir Alastair Cook (11845).
Gavaskar, the 1983 World Cup winner, also went on to prove his worth in ODIs. He aggregated 3,092 runs at a highly respectable average of 35.13, including an 88-ball ton versus New Zealand during the 1987 World Cup. He also led India to the title win in the 1985 World Championship of Cricket.
For his services to Indian cricket, Gavaskar has been bestowed with the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards by the government of India. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.
On his 72nd birth anniversary, Sunil Gavaskar received heartwarming messages from the Indian cricket fraternity on Twitter.
Here are the tweets: