Being his opening partner for close to 100 international innings, Krishnamachari Srikkanth has fond memories of Sunil Gavaskar piling on runs in his prime. 

But one moment that he'll never forget came in the legendary batsman's last series at the highest level in 1987 against the visiting Pakistan side. 

Read Also: Gavaskar reveals why he was removed as India captain despite beating West Indies 

Remembering that moment in Madras, Srikkanth, who played 43 Tests and 160 ODIs for India, heaped praise on Gavaskar as he nears his 71st birthday on July 10. 

"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!" said Srikkanth on Star Sports 1 Tamil show 'Cricket Connected - Aattam Thodarum'. 

"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. 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," he recalled. 

"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."

Gavaskar, the game's first-ever 10,000 Test run-maker, played one of his finest knocks in his last innings in the low-scoring Bangalore Test, which was the series-decider after four successive draws. 

On a pitch turning square, Gavaskar showed off his class, scoring 96 runs of the highest quality in the eventually unsuccessful chase of 221, when only one other batsman, Dilip Vengsarkar in the first innings, reached 50 from either side in the entire Test.