The fledgling Indian Cricket Players' Association got a shot in the arm with batting legend Sunil Gavaskar and spin wizard S Vankataraghavan accepting its offer to become honorary members.

Disclosing this, ICPA vice-president Arun Lal said in Kolkata on Thursday that his organisation had sent letters to all former India skippers requesting them to take up honorary membership.

"We sent them the letter and the forms before the World Cup in South Africa. Several of them are yet to receive the forms," Arun Lal said.

Visibly elated by Gavaskar's decision to join the ICPA, which has been locked in a battle of attrition with the Board of Control for Cricket in India since its formation last year, Lal said: "The presence of Sunny [Gavaskar] will definitely strengthen us.

"He is one of the all-time great cricketers of our country and a respected figure. We can always turn to him for advice," he said.

Gavaskar, also the chairman of BCCI's technical committee, sent his acceptance letter along with the signed form to the ICPA's office in Delhi recently.