Viv Richards picks Virat Kohli as his favourite batsman; prefers Tendulkar over Lara

When it comes to asking former cricketers about their best player from cricket these days, Indian captain Virat Kohli is almost a unanimous choice. The latest former great to back the ace Indian batsman is Sir Vivian Richards and he said clearly during a recent interview that he is a fan of Kohli and likes the latter’s style and competitiveness and without demeaning the achievements of the Indian’s contemporaries, he would pick him as the best batsman.

Richards said this while answering one of the 25 questions posed to him by ESPNcricinfo and it wanted to know his favourite cricketer from among Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Kohli. “I think he (Kohli) would be the one who would be the most successful,” the 66-year-old and one of the best batsmen the world has seen emerging from the Caribbeans, said.

The bowler who gave him tense nights

Richards was asked to name the bowler who gave him sleepless nights although the question would seem irrelevant for many for the batsman was considered a destroyer with the bat irrespective of the bowling. However, Richards replied with the name of Dennis Lillee, one of Australia’s best-known fast bowlers and with whom Richards used to have lively duels on the field.

Richards picks Tendulkar over Lara

When asked who would he pick for his team – Brian Lara or Sachin Tendulkar – Richards said his emotional support would be for Lara since he also is a West Indian but keeping in mind Tendulkar’s achievements, he would eventually settle for the latter.

Kohli’s name came up again when the former Windies captain was asked which current batsman he would have loved to pick for his team if he was its skipper. “Certainly Virat Kohli. Because I love his tenaciousness, I love his competitiveness. Certainly, anyone would want to have him. The way he bats. Anyone would want to have him in their team,” said the Antigua batsman who scored over 15,000 runs and took 150 wickets in international cricket.

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