Hail the King!!

Not often would you see a team's morale taking a beating after getting a wicket of a top class batsman, but this is precisely what happened for over a decade when teams faced the West Indies. At the fall of the first wicket, which was either Gordon Greenidge or Desmond Haynes, in walked Issac Vivian Alexander Richards. His swagger and regal gait coupled with the air of nonchalance best expressed by chewing gum with no regard for the bowler or the match situation made most bowlers quake in their knees. In an era of exceptionally quick bowlers who had a penchant for knocking batsmen out, Viv Richards exuded an extraordinary confidence bordering on arrogance, when he walked out to face them. He never ever wore a helmet and his threatening message was made known to the bowlers well before he took guard.

Viv Richards was an exceptional batsman blessed with a fantastic eye. His ability to read the length far quicker than most others and his unbridled aggressive nature made him almost impossible to bowl to. He was also a very useful bowler and his feline reflexes made him one of the finest fielders in the game.

He made his debut at Bangalore in 1974 along with Gordon Greenidge. Whilst Greenidge had a great match making 93 and 107, Richards had a very forgettable debut contributing just 4 and 3. Soon, he was in his stride though cracking 192 at Delhi and announced himself. The following year, in the tour of Australia, he was at the receiving end of some hostile fast bowling by Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson. The tough as nails approach of the Aussies coupled with the barrage of sledging he faced unnerved the young Richards at first. But at the end of what was a disastrous tour overall for the West Indies as they lost 1-5, he was one of the few positives.

The 1975 World Cup Final saw Richards change the course of the game with his fantastic fielding as he was responsible for running out the Chappell brothers to help the West Indies win a close final. The year 1976 would turn out to be Viv Richards's 'annus mirabilis'. They travelled to England to take on Tony Greig's team.
Greig, the English captain had his roots in South Africa and had rather insensitively said before the tour that he would make the West Indies 'grovel'. The rather racist remark did not go down too well with the proud Richards and he took it upon himself to make England pay dearly for that. In one of the most amazing displays of batting, he amassed 829 runs in the series despite missing one test. Tony Greig crawled behind the West Indian team as his English side were vanquished at the Oval courtesy Richards's 291 and a breathtaking display of sustained hostile fast bowling by Michael Holding who took 14/147 on a docile track. Viv Richards had made two double hundreds and by the end of the calendar year he had 1710 runs, a record that stood for almost 3 decades.





Kerry Packer's rebel series flagged off in 1977 and almost all great stars of the game were a part of it including Richards. Once the television rights were settled, Richards was back to the main team and at the time of the World Cup in 1979, he was indisputably the greatest batsman in the game. In the final of the World Cup at Lords, the West Indies took on England. Richards, partnered by Collis King who made 86 off 66 balls launched an imperious attack on the hapless Englishmen stroking a glorious 138 n.o culminating his innings with two of the most audacious strokes seen when he moved across to the off stump and sent Mike Hendrick's deliveries over the square leg fence. This very display symbolized the man. His range of shots, the extraordinary belief and confidence, his arrogance and pride made him the most exciting cricketer by a distance.

The runs continued to flow from his blade as the West Indians under Clive Lloyd lorded over the cricket world. He seemed to reserve his best for the big games. His centuries in the world cup, the finals of the world series in Australia and not to mention the county championship finals where he along with Ian Botham and Joel Garner took lowly Somerset to great heights. India, in a remarkable heist stunned the West Indies at Lords in 1983 to lift the World Cup. Viv Richards looked to be making the day his own until Kapil Dev pouched a stunning catch to turn the game.

In the series following the World Cup, the West Indians thrashed India heavily in tests and ODI's making up for the World cup defeat and Richards scored heavily throughout. He was an integral part of Clive loyd's team in 1984 that effected the first 'blackwash' on England when they trounced them 5-0 in England. But Richards's best performance was saved for the one day series. At Old Trafford in Manchester, England had the West Indies in dire straits at 166/9 with only Michael Holding left with Richards. In surely what has to be the greatest innings ever played in a one day match, Richards took on the English bowlers and smashed them to all corners in his immortal 189*. A fairly good English attack of Botham, Willis, Foster and Pringle was treated like a club attack and some strokes left those watching stunned. His quite extraordinary flick off Botham from a ball on off stump which went over square leg between 2 fielders had the great all rounder stare in disbelief and his remarkable assault deflated the English team. A 106 run last wicket stand with Holding contributing just 12 runs had undoubtedly shown the world that when Richards was in full flow, there was hardly anything any bowler or captain could do to stem the onslaught.



Viv Richards naturally became Lloyd's heir when the legendary left hander decided to hang up his boots. He led the West Indies to another 'blackwash' of England in 1985, this time in the Caribbean. This series is best remembered for the fastest test century he made in 56 balls when he went berserk in Antigua. His mauling of the English attack left no one in doubt about the great man's genius. He continued to lead the team until 1991 without losing a single series. His batting did taper a little towards the end as his average came down from the high fifties to just over 50. But then Viv Richards was a man who never cared for records and personal milestones. Michal Holding famously said that if Richards was the kind who wanted to play for records, he would have held all of them. For all the stats minded he did finish with 8540 runs at over 50 with 24 hundreds in tests and 6721 runs in ODI's at an astounding average of 47 which ranks him among the greatest ever in both forms of the game.

Viv Richards in full flow was a treat for the eyes. His dashing approach and a regal presence unnerved the best of opponents. His swagger is legendary and his no holds barred riposte to fast bowling puts him right up there with the best. The King of the crease has no rivals when it comes to dominating attacks and any comparisons with Richards are useless as there has been and can only be one Viv Richards.