I plan to write about my favourite cricketers in this blog. This is the first one in that series.
Before we get into it......something about yesterday. We had been to Milton Keynes, to my cousin Uzma's place. We had a great time there courtesy Uzma and her husband Imran.
Today we are off to Norwich for a get-together there. This will be the first time we will go back there after we moved in August last year. So looking forward to meet friends and acquaintances.
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Coming back to Viv. Of all the batsmen I have seen till date, which starts from 1982, Viv Richards is easily the best. This includes the great batsmen of the eighties like Gavaskar, Miandad, Greg Chappell, Gordan Grinidge, David Gower the 90's and the 2000's who were Tendulkar, Ponting, Lara, Dravid, Inzimam, Steve Waugh, Mahela, Sangakkara, Chandrapaul, Sehwag. I may have missed one of two, but largely these are the greats.
I would rate Viv Richards above all these.
Let's first discuss what are the parameters on which I think we should rate -
1. Rising to occasion when the chips are down.
2. Delivering on the big stage like the Cup Finals, SF's, against top opposition.
3. Impact - Changing the course of the match or series with decisive interventions.
4. Play in a way which makes it easier for the rest of the batsmen in the team, make the top bowlers look ordinary.
5. Complete Team player (not selfish)
6. How do the top bowlers of his time rate him
7. Performance away from home and against good teams
On these parameters, in my book, Viv comes out ahead of the rest. Just ask the top players of that generation Deniss Lillee, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Bob Willis, Wasim Akram, Jeff Thompson, Allan Border, and many many others, they will all say that he was the best they saw.
Viv must rank as perhaps the first batsmen who used to terrorize the bowlers and also 'sledge' them. Normally it is the fast bowlers who do that to the batsmen. He loved a challenge with the top fast bowlers of the day and generally came out on top. His duels with Lillee, Imran, Willis, Thompson and Botham are legendary. He never wore a helmet.
Viv was into boxing in his younger days and that showed in his approach to the game. His swaggering walk to the crease, total disregard for the opposition, gum-chewing, it was enough to show that he doesn't rate them at all. The body language was just intimidating.
With his amazing eye and reflexes he would treat the fastest bowler like a spinner. He would hook bouncers on the front foot. He will charge the fast bowlers and hit them all over the place. He was like a tiger on the prowl. It was as if he was saying 'I am out to destroy you, let's see what you have got to stop me'........
He was doing all this in an era when Test Cricket was paramount and batsmen generally played very carefully, leaving a lot of balls early, building the innings, taking minimum risks. Viv will always take risks because for him winning the challenge with the best bowlers was the main driving force.
Even now when I see videos on Youtube of his batting, it amazes me. The ease with which he could hit sixes to the very long boundaries in Melbourne, was breathtaking.
He played some great innings in the World Cup finals and the Bensen & Hedges Cup finals in Australia. He would always perform on the big stage.
I have seen him hitting sixes with one hand. He had the record (which I think he still holds) of the fastest hundred in tests (56 balls). His 189 no against England is one of the greatest ODI innings ever played.
Many people say that he could do all this because he never had to face the most fearsome fast bowlers as they were in his own team, the West Indies. True, but going by what he did to the rest, Lillee, Thompson, Imran, Hadlee, Botham, Willis, one can say that he would have tackled the pace battery of Roberts, Holding, Garner, Marshall and Croft with ease. He showed that in the English County Circuit when he played against them.
He was fiercely proud of his heritage and background too. He had a particular dislike for Bob Willis. It is said that as a youngster Viv had come to England and in a match Willis had called him a 'Black B*****d'. Since then Viv singled out Willis for special treatment. When Tony Grieg made the infamous 'grovel' remark in 1976, Viv responded by sending England on a leather hunt.
The batsman who came closest to batting like Viv Richards, I would say has been Virender Sehwag. Sehwag should treat that as the best compliment ever paid to him !!
Well I can go on and on about him. To conclude, I would say that, watching Sir Vivian Richards in full flow has been one of the most sublime experiences for me.
Before we get into it......something about yesterday. We had been to Milton Keynes, to my cousin Uzma's place. We had a great time there courtesy Uzma and her husband Imran.
Today we are off to Norwich for a get-together there. This will be the first time we will go back there after we moved in August last year. So looking forward to meet friends and acquaintances.
Coming back to Viv. Of all the batsmen I have seen till date, which starts from 1982, Viv Richards is easily the best. This includes the great batsmen of the eighties like Gavaskar, Miandad, Greg Chappell, Gordan Grinidge, David Gower the 90's and the 2000's who were Tendulkar, Ponting, Lara, Dravid, Inzimam, Steve Waugh, Mahela, Sangakkara, Chandrapaul, Sehwag. I may have missed one of two, but largely these are the greats.
I would rate Viv Richards above all these.
Let's first discuss what are the parameters on which I think we should rate -
1. Rising to occasion when the chips are down.
2. Delivering on the big stage like the Cup Finals, SF's, against top opposition.
3. Impact - Changing the course of the match or series with decisive interventions.
4. Play in a way which makes it easier for the rest of the batsmen in the team, make the top bowlers look ordinary.
5. Complete Team player (not selfish)
6. How do the top bowlers of his time rate him
7. Performance away from home and against good teams
On these parameters, in my book, Viv comes out ahead of the rest. Just ask the top players of that generation Deniss Lillee, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Bob Willis, Wasim Akram, Jeff Thompson, Allan Border, and many many others, they will all say that he was the best they saw.
Viv must rank as perhaps the first batsmen who used to terrorize the bowlers and also 'sledge' them. Normally it is the fast bowlers who do that to the batsmen. He loved a challenge with the top fast bowlers of the day and generally came out on top. His duels with Lillee, Imran, Willis, Thompson and Botham are legendary. He never wore a helmet.
Viv was into boxing in his younger days and that showed in his approach to the game. His swaggering walk to the crease, total disregard for the opposition, gum-chewing, it was enough to show that he doesn't rate them at all. The body language was just intimidating.
With his amazing eye and reflexes he would treat the fastest bowler like a spinner. He would hook bouncers on the front foot. He will charge the fast bowlers and hit them all over the place. He was like a tiger on the prowl. It was as if he was saying 'I am out to destroy you, let's see what you have got to stop me'........
He was doing all this in an era when Test Cricket was paramount and batsmen generally played very carefully, leaving a lot of balls early, building the innings, taking minimum risks. Viv will always take risks because for him winning the challenge with the best bowlers was the main driving force.
Even now when I see videos on Youtube of his batting, it amazes me. The ease with which he could hit sixes to the very long boundaries in Melbourne, was breathtaking.
He played some great innings in the World Cup finals and the Bensen & Hedges Cup finals in Australia. He would always perform on the big stage.
I have seen him hitting sixes with one hand. He had the record (which I think he still holds) of the fastest hundred in tests (56 balls). His 189 no against England is one of the greatest ODI innings ever played.
Many people say that he could do all this because he never had to face the most fearsome fast bowlers as they were in his own team, the West Indies. True, but going by what he did to the rest, Lillee, Thompson, Imran, Hadlee, Botham, Willis, one can say that he would have tackled the pace battery of Roberts, Holding, Garner, Marshall and Croft with ease. He showed that in the English County Circuit when he played against them.
He was fiercely proud of his heritage and background too. He had a particular dislike for Bob Willis. It is said that as a youngster Viv had come to England and in a match Willis had called him a 'Black B*****d'. Since then Viv singled out Willis for special treatment. When Tony Grieg made the infamous 'grovel' remark in 1976, Viv responded by sending England on a leather hunt.
The batsman who came closest to batting like Viv Richards, I would say has been Virender Sehwag. Sehwag should treat that as the best compliment ever paid to him !!
Well I can go on and on about him. To conclude, I would say that, watching Sir Vivian Richards in full flow has been one of the most sublime experiences for me.
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