‘PSL has been a comfortable league for me,’ says Viv Richards

LAHORE: Sir Viv Richards, the master blaster West Indian batter of the past, acknowledged the status of Indian Premier League (IPL) as the biggest in the world but said he is most comfortable in the HBL Pakistan Super League due to its great environment.

The 73-year-old, known for his aggressive batting before the Twenty20 invention, has been working as mentor and great inspiration for Quetta Gladiators franchise in the Pakistan Super League since its inception.

Viv said there is no doubt IPL is the biggest. “I have spent most of the time in the PSL but I acknowledge that the IPL is the biggest. There are so many leagues and a lot of Pakistan players themselves go and play these leagues,” Viv said while talking to a group of journalists.

“There are top players from around the world in the IPL and together with the local talent they come up with high quality cricket,” he added.

The former West Indian captain played 121 Tests and 187 one-day internationals and was part of his team’s first two ODI World Cup wins in 1975 and 1979.

In the days when batting was not as hard hitting as it is now, Viv had a strike rate of 90.20 in ODIs.

He visualises how he would have played in the current times, with batters needed to hit it out from the word go.

“I think I would have been too powerful with a modern bat and would have found this format very tempting. I used to love dominating the bowling and this format would have suited my style,” he explained.

Viv admitted the white-ball formats are more inclined towards batters.