Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards is a legend in cricket. Known for his aggressive style of batting and belligerent way of behaviour on ground, he was nicknamed the King by his team mates. Viv Richards was born at St Johns, Antigua on 7 March 1952. Popularly known as Viv Richards, he was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts. He was selected as the greatest ODI batsman of all time, and the third greatest Test batsman of all time by Wisden. This right hand batsman was famous for his attacking style. He was also an excellent fielder and a handy off-spin bowler. This devastating batsman was a favourite of every cricket lover. His batting style was adored by cricketers,

journalists, fans and others alike.Richards faced the fast bowling of the era fearlessly even without waering a helmet. In his cricket career spanning over 17 years from 1974 to 1991, he led the carribean batting side successfully.

My prominent players incluidng Pakistan’s Imran Khan noted writer John Brimingham are of the opinion that Richards is the greatest ever batsman who faced fast bowling effectively. According to Ian Chappel, former Australian captain, richards the second greatest batsman after Sir Garyfield Sobers. Barry Richards, Ravi Shastri and Neil Fairbrother considers him as the greatest batsman ever happened in cricket. For Wasim Akram, he is the most terrific batsman ever Akram had bowled.

Richards made his debut in Test cricket in 1974 against India in Bangalore. He scored a century in the next Test of the same series in New Delhi. In the career of 121 matches, he has scored 8,540 runs including 24 centuries. He was also a successful captain who took the Caribbean side to victory in 27 of the 50 matches. He was also the part of the West Indies team that won Word Cup two times and the team that lost in the finals of 1983. His highest score in One Day Internationals of 181 runs was a record in World Cup. His score of 189 was also a record in ODIs until broken by Saeed Anwar.

Apart of the cricket career he is also respected for his clean personality. Richards was knighted in his native Antigua in 2007.

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