Even today, few batters have the same aura as the great Viv Richards. The original Master Blaster, Richards was a pioneer of ODI cricket. In 1984, when daddy hundreds were not even a thing, Richards smashed 184 in an ODI against England, a record that stood as the highest individual score by a West Indian before Chris Gayle shattered it in 2015 with a double century. Such was Richards’ impact. In fact, it was so immense that the oppositions’ game plan used to be ‘get Richards cheaply and win the match’. Kapil Dev’s legendary running-behind catch in the 1983 World Cup final wouldn’t have been half as iconic had it been to dismiss anyone else except Richards.
40 years later, Richards still holds the record for the second and third highest individual score for West Indies in ODIs. In fact, during the fag end of his career, Richards struck another mammoth hundred – 181 against Sri Lanka in the 1987 World Cup. Hence, it is imperative that if someone like Richards take notice of someone, that player ought to have done something extra special.
Take Rohit Sharma for example. The India captain holds the record for some of the most extraordinary batting achievements in ODIs. Three double-centuries, most centuries in a World Cup, most sixes in international cricket, and the highest score in ODIs. And yet, what the India captain did against Australia in the Super Eight Game of the T20 World Cup left Richards awestruck. At the St. Lucia cricket stadium in Antigua where Richards was born and brought up, Rohit decimated Australia with a knock for the ages. Rohit’s 92 off 41 balls was one of the most brutal and savage assaults ever seen on an Australian team, an innings that got the mighty Richards to clap.
Recalling that knock
“I always knew that if they can beat Australia, no team will be able to stop them. You look at that game against Australia, it was as if Rohit Sharma took it personally. That is the home ground of Viv Richards, and someone told me that when he was watching the match, he was in awe. To have someone like Viv Richards in awe even for half an hour, it means your life is made. If Viv Richards is watching the match and you make him clap, there is nothing like it,” veteran sports journalist Vimal Kumar said on the ‘2 Sloggers’ podcast.
Rohit batted like a man-possessed that morning in St. Lucia. Hurting from India’s loss to Australia in the 2023 World Cup final, Rohit channeled all of it to exact revenge. He took on Mitchell Starc, blasting the Aussie quick for 29 runs in an over, including four sixes and later a fifth in his next over. In all, Rohit went hammer in tongs, striking as many as eight sixes en route to playing an innings of a lifetime. Every six he had was laden with a bit of pain from November 19. Rohit’s knock could arguably qualify as the greatest innings of the T20 World Cup, one that played a big role in packing Australia’s bags from the tournament.
Richards also entered the Indian dressing room after one of their matches and wished them well. “If there is one team I want to see winning this World Cup after West Indies, it’s you guys,” he said, a wish that Team India fulfilled.
