Vinod Kambli, Sunil Gavaskar and others felicitated by MCA at Wankhede Stadium's 50th anniversary for...

Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar and former player Vinod Kambli were among Mumbai's cricketing heroes, who were felicitated by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) at the opening event of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Other cricketing stalwarts, including Sanjay Manjrekar, Wasim Jaffer, Raju Kulkarni, Chandrakant Pandit, Lalchand Rajput, Shobha Pandit and Arundhati Ghosh, who all contributed to the rich legacy of Mumbai cricket, were also felicitated.

The main event will be held on January 19 at the Wankhede Stadium. Gavaskar was the first Mumbai captain to be felicitated on Sunday. He was presented with a memento by MCA President Ajinkya Naik. Gavaskar was also a member of the Indian team that played the inaugural Test at the Wankhede Stadium against the West Indies in 1974.

Kambli, who was recently discharged from a local hospital after being admitted to the ICU on December 21 due to health complications, was also present on the occasion. He was seen being escorted around as he is still on the recovery path.

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After his felicitation, Kambli spoke about his playing days at the iconic venue. "I remember I smashed my first double hundred here against England and then went on to score many more hundreds in my career," he said. "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." 

The 50th-anniversary celebrations will continue throughout the week. The main event will also feature Mumbai's legendary men's and women's players from domestic and international cricket. 

(With inputs from PTI)