Sachin Tendulkar wishes 'batting hero' Viv Richards on his 67th birthday

He has been one of cricket’s biggest names. The very sight of him walking down to the middle wearing a maroon cap and chewing gum used to send shivers down the spine of the bowlers. Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards turned 67 on Thursday and among the many of his admirers, another batting legend Sachin Tendulkar also wished him on the day, calling him his “batting hero”. We wish the Caribbean legend a happy birthday too.

Richards had come to dominate international cricket at a time when there were quite a few strong bowling attacks around. But not many could prevail over the swagger and power that Richards had brought with him. Having made his international debut at the age of 22 in 1974, his first opponents were India.

In the very second Test that he had played in Delhi that year, Richards belted 192 not out to show his class. In a career that spanned 17 years, the Antigua batsman played 121 Tests and 187 ODIs, amassing over 15,000 runs with 35 hundreds. He was also a handy slow bowler, especially in the ODIs and took 118 scalps in that format besides 32 in Tests. In first-class cricket, Richards scored over 36,000 runs with 114 hundreds and took 223 wickets from 500 appearances.

Sir Richards was phenomenal both as a batsman and captain

Viv Richards was the member of the formidable West Indies team that had won two back-to-back World Cups in 1975 and 1979 and reached the final in 1983. He slammed a magnificent hundred against England in the final of the 1979 edition to win the Man of the Match award. Richards’ legacy was carried forward by Brian Lara who made his debut towards the end of the former’s career.

As a captain, too, Richards had quite an enviable record with 27 wins and eight losses out of 50 Tests (only the iconic captain Clive Lloyd have more wins than him as the captain). In ODIs, Richards still remains the best captain that the Windies have produced with 67 wins and 36 losses out of 105 games (he has three more victories than Lloyd though the latter captained in lesser games).

Sachin Tendulkar, who also made his international debut when Richards was in his twilight, always expressed his high regard for the dashing batsman and he reiterated it again while wishing him on his birthday.

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