Vivian Richards

If there was ever a batsman in the history of the game who could be truly associated with the word, ‘fearless’, it had to be Sir Vivian Richards. So, fast bowlers were treated with utter disdain, as he arrogantly banished the quickest of the breed to all parts of the ground when he got going. To add insult to injury, he never wore a helmet in his career, and kept intimidating bowlers by nonchalantly chewing gum.

He has once been involved in 100 run plus partnership for the tenth wicket with Michael Holding in which the latter’s contribution was only 12, where as he also has scored a Test century off 56 deliveries. His 8000 odd Test runs have come at an average of more than 50, while his average of 47 and a strike rate of 90 in ODIs – at a time when the concept of fielding restrictions did not exist – is second to none. Richards’ three runouts in the 1975 World Cup final and a murderous century in finals of the 1979 World Cup went a long way in clinching them for his team. As a captain, Richards won a gigantic 27 matches out of the fifty he skippered in.

In 2002, Richards was chosen as the greatest ODI batsman of all time by Wisden, while in 2000, he was voted as one of top five Wisden cricketers of the century, behind Bradman, Sobers, Hobbs and Warne.