Sir Vivian Richards is a stalwart of International Cricket. Over the years, he had developed a reputation of being a very wise observer in identifying the batting talent worldwide. He has, in one of his latest articles, tried to pick top 10 ODI batsmen of all time, though he has admitted that it is difficult to separate and put them in their rightful batting order. The first name he has chosen is obviously Sachin Tendulkar. He has described him in a single word, as a legend. He has opined that if Sachin is not included in any chosen team, it would be a great shame. Sir Viv has narrated that Sachin has always been one of his favourite batsmen and he would rather pay money to watch him bat. He further commented that Sachin wasn’t the biggest in size amongst other cricketers of the world, but all good things come in small packages. Ultimately, Sir Viv Richards has labelled Sachin as a fantastic batsman.
He has also rated Brian Lara at par with Sachin. He would pay to watch him bat too. There is another West Indies batsman picked up by Sir Viv Richards and that is Chris Gayle. He has described Gayle as bowlers’ nightmare and emphasized that he can be very destructive. Sir Viv has stated that Gayle can be a match-winner in any environment and in any match conditions. Thereafter, Sir Viv has chosen former batting great, Clive Lloyd, underlining the fact that he had scored a century in the World Cup final in the year 1975. Ricky Ponting is another name Sir Viv has relied upon as he too got a century in an ICC Cricket World Cup final, but that is not the only reason for Sir Richards to pick him. Sir Viv believes that Ponting was able to play all the shots in the book but the more remarkable thing about Ponting was that he was a wonderful worker of the ball as he could pick singles and doubles at will, and that is remarkable for a batsman especially coming in at number three. It becomes very difficult to contain such batsmen.
Among other Australia batsmen, Sir Viv has placed Matthew Hayden at the top of the order – a fearsome prospect. Sir Viv has stressed that Hayden would set things up for the middle-order with his ferocious and powerful hitting. If you are batting below him, by the time he got set and finished his innings, your task was half done. He made it easier for anyone coming in to bat after him. Also Sir Richards appreciated his consistency.
Next name in the list happens to be fire brand Virender Sehwag. Sir described that Sehwag relied on great hand-eye co-ordination and when he got going, he could demolish any bowling attack in the world in a matter of overs. Then of course, Mr. Cricket, Michael Hussey has been short listed by Sir Viv for the reason that he had this uncanny knack of scoring all the time. Sir Viv underlined his ability to assess the wicket, conditions and match situation and alter his style of play accordingly.
Coming down to one of the world’s current all-round players that is AB de Villiers, Sir Richards has explained that sometimes when he watched him, it seems like he was watching himself. Sir Richards appreciates that he looks very comfortable at the crease. The shots he plays bring such joy to millions of fans around the globe. The last name appearing on the list of Sir Viv, but not the least by any means, is young Virat Kohli. The reason for choosing Kohli remains clear that at such a young age he has twice the number of ODI centuries than in Tests and he is such a confident player in limited-overs. It is his aggressive style in ODI cricket that he is simply magnificent. Sir Richards believes that Kohli is only going to get better and better, and add to his list of achievements. It is really wonderful experience to find three top Indian batsmen in the list finalized by the legend himself. The future of Indian cricket is seemingly bright.