Viv would have been an absolute legend in T20 cricket: Smith

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If Viv Richards (centre), the original master blaster, had played the game today, he would have broken all records in T20 cricket

Published: Mon 1 Jun 2020, 8:30 PM

Last updated: Mon 1 Jun 2020, 10:38 PM

The new generation that has grown up watching the destructive Ben Stokes and Chris Gayle will never know what it was like watching Viv Richards in full flow.
And former New Zealand wicketkeeper batsman Ian Smith believes if Richards, the original master blaster, had played the game today, he would have broken all records in T20 cricket.
"I believe Viv Richards would have made a go at cricket in any format in any decade," Smith said on ICC's Cricket Inside Out.
Richards, who hooked fast bowlers to the stands without ever feeling the need to wear a helmet, batted with such freedom that he ended his career in 1991 with a strike rate of 90.20 in one-day cricket.

"I mean you look at his strike rate which was superior to anyone else's at that time that is a T20 strike rate without even having that game in his mind," Smith said.
Richards, according to Smith, would have been the most expensive player in IPL.
"He would have been an absolute legend in T20 cricket. They would have paid more money than Pat Cummins, Ben Stokes and all other guys put together, to get Viv Richards in their line-up, because it would put more bums on the seats. He would have been an absolute crowd-pleaser and television rights would have gone through the roof," Smith added.
"I will sum it up by saying that whenever you sit down and pick all-time World XI, he is always in mind. I don't think I have ever played or commentated, I have seen a more imposing batsman come to the crease."
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com

By Rituraj Borkakoty 
 


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