ON-FIELD AGGRESSION

I don't have a problem with Kohli's confrontational style, says Richards

by JAC Gladson • Published on

Kohli's aggression was in full view at Perth, but sledging for Richards was fine as long as the players don't get personal. © Getty

If it's the swagger, it has to be Sir Viv Richards. The baritone can't be missed either as he charms all with his verbal volleys. The Master Blaster, who was in Hyderabad on a promotional event, made no bones of his liking for Indian captain Virat Kohli and his aggressive brand of cricket. "Virat (Kohli) still is my favourite," he said on Monday. "My captain as well."

The former Windies captain reckoned it was India's best chance to win a series down under. "He's (Kohli) got a great opportunity. It's for him to just cap off a magnificent time from where he started and where's he at now. You had people like the Kapil Devs and Sunny Gavaskars who went to Australia and never got it done in terms of winning. This team, Virat's team, has a great opportunity - even though they may be up against it in the second Test. If you don't grab it now, I don't see it coming again."

His fondness of all things Kohli was unabashed and if he were to pay to watch a player it would be the Indian captain. "It has to be Virat, who else? I can't stop speaking about him. He's that small guy. But he punches above his weight, big time. He's unlike the way the Australians behave, this aggressive attitude. Virat gives it back and I like it. You cannot turn the cheek every time. I'm not the guy who turned my cheek. I'm going to stand up and fight. And Virat is doing that. The Indian team today, they fear no one. In those days, those guys were a little timid. Things have changed now."

Kohli's aggression was in full view at Perth, but sledging for Richards was fine as long as the players don't get personal. "When you say the wrong things, that's not good. There are times when you say things to upset the opposition, which is part of sport. But when you start getting personal, it's never good. I don't know about sledging, but I love confrontation. And Virat looks like he loves to be in a confrontation. When you have a strong captain, and the juniors don't follow, then something is wrong. The Indian team is much more aggressive today."

With a four-pronged pace attack to boot. "India used to pride itself on the best spinners in the world," said Richards. "Now they've made the transition to having four good pace attack. I made a comment in Antigua when we were playing against India. I've lived to see the day that an Indian pace attack is a little bit more upmarket than a West Indian attack. That to me was something to behold."

Unlike the Indian team, the fortunes of the Windies team have nosedived. "We've taken a bit long to recover. The punch we got was a brutal punch and we haven't recovered as well as we should. We're still hoping that they (Windies) can find their mojo," Richards said.

The former greats, however, have had no role to play in lifting the Windies team off the bottom. "I do advise locally, but for some reason it looks like the players from yesterday have been ostracised from Windies cricket. I'm not quite sure why," Richards said. "We are leaning towards foreign coaches. But at the end of the day you've got to see whether there's any improvement. At present, we have not quite seen that level of development which could take us to or give us the hope that one would need in the future."

Richards was happy with the proliferation of T20 leagues, but was wary of overkill. "There are so many T20 leagues in the world. We should not overplay our hand. The administrators have a role to play in controlling how much cricket is played because you have the burnout factor. When there wasn't any T20, everyone just wanted to play for their country. I think that has been derailed. But the administrators can set the tone rather than have individuals who just want to play T20 cricket. There should be a structure for you to get into T20. If that's controlled, there'll be much better management of the system."

Ball tampering was no surprise for the 66-year-old, or the fact that Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft copped the stick. "They should, why not? They've been caught and found guilty. Pay the price, man up and move on. But I'm not surprised because some folks want to win that badly."

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