Sunil Gavaskar says he scored 10,000 runs because of Pakistani legend Imran Khan

Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar said he became the first to reach 10,000 international runs only because of legendary Pakistani bowler Imran Khan.

Gavaskar made the revelation during his appearance on Sports Central's 'Dressing Room' discussion, where he was joined by Pakistan cricket icons Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis and former Indian players Ajay Jadeja and Nikhil Chopra.

Relaying a question from a fan, Akram asked Gavaskar how it felt to become the first batter to reach the milestone. Gavaskar got to 10,000 runs in March 1987. The 75-year-old said he was happy that he would be remembered as the first, like "Tenzing (Norgay) and Edmund Hillary, the first to climb Mount Everest".

To everyone's amusement, Gavaskar added: "I got the opportunity to do so, only because of one Imran Khan."

The World Cup winner elaborated: "A year before (1986), in England. After the first Test was won, Imran and I went for lunch at an Italian restaurant, I told him, 'brother, this is going to be my last year. I'm going to quit after his series'."

"He said, 'no, no, you can't do that.' I said, 'what do you mean? It's my choice.' He replied: 'Pakistan is coming to India and I want to beat India with you playing. I don't want to beat India without you, it won't be the same.'

"I said that Pakistan was not coming, but he said the ICC meeting was happening and we'll have the announcement soon. I said, 'ok, if there is an announcement, then I'll carry on'. Sure enough, the announcement came and I carried on. If Imran had not told me to carry on I would have retired on 9,200 or 9,300 runs," Gavaskar said.

Imran Khan, who won a World Cup for Pakistan, later became the Prime Minister there. Gavaskar, who was part of India's historic 1983 World Cup triumph, is one of the leading commentators.