Former New Zealand cricketer and commentator Ian Smith feels Windies batting legend Viv Richards would have been an absolute legend in T20 cricket. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Richards made a career by destroying potent bowling attacks during his playing days for the West Indies on the international circuit. Known for his explosive batting style, Richards was indeed a walking nightmare for any premier bowler during his iconic career for the Men In Maroon.
“I believe Viv Richards would have made a go at cricket in any format in any decade. That’s why, 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,” Ian Smith said on ICC’s Cricket Inside Out.
Smith even went on to claim that teams would have paid more than the likes of Pat Cummins, Ben Stokes and others put together in order to acquire the services of the Windies batting icon. Smith asserted that Richard would have been a crowd-puller in T20 cricket. With 24 centuries, Richards scored 8,540 runs in 121 Test matches at a noteworthy average of 50.23. Richards played 187 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and scored 6,721 runs with an incredible strike rate of 90.2.
“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.
