New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS): Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar has said that he would have loved to bat like current limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

Gavaskar, who was the first batsman to reach 10,000 career runs in Test cricket, said that circumstances and a "lack of confidence" in his ability stopped him from doing that in his playing days.

"The way you see a Rohit Sharma opening the batting in one-day cricket, Test cricket, smashing from the first over," Gavaskar told India Today.

"That is what I wanted to play. 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 was known to put a price on his wicket, playing long innings and anchoring the Indian batting lineup during his illustrious career. Rohit, on the other hand, is known for his tendency to decimate bowling attacks and is often rated as the best-limited overs batsman in the world.

He has scored 9115 in ODI cricket with 27 centuries while his career tally of 2773 runs in T20Is makes him the highest scorer in the format. He hasn't had the same success in Test cricket but he smashed 529 runs in the last series that he played against South Africa at home. It was also the first time he had opened the innings in the longest form of the game.