5 cricketers whose reputation was bigger than their teams
These cricketers ruled their respective nation's cricket teams and influenced decision making significantly, regardless of them being the captains or not.
3. Sir Vivian Richards
The most enigmatic personalities of the 80s, Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards was probably the greatest entertainer the game has witnessed. Against cricket’s most terrifying fast bowlers of the 70s and 80s, Richards batted at a strike-rate in excess of 85 in Test cricket, a stat which glorifies his sheer magnetic aura to attract fans towards him.
While there many other legendary cricketers in West Indian history like Clive Lloyd, Sir Gary Sobers, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Everton Weekes, Malcolm Marshall and Brian Lara, not one of them could garner a fear-factor like that of the two-time World Cup winner from Antigua.
The confidence with which he walked out to bat, the fearlessness with which he would smash gruesome fast bowlers to all corners, the nonchalance in his run-scoring spree, there was nothing that matched the great man’s influence on Windies cricket. He was the highest run-scorer in Test cricket for them before Brian Lara took over in the coming years.
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