Dubai: Viv Richards’s blazer will be among the priced memorabilia at the Shyam Bhatia cricket museum.
The former West Indies captain, who is adored by millions for his batting style, presented his blazer to Shyam Bhatia during the 17th Shyam Bhatia annual awards after he was impressed by the history of cricket engraved on the walls of the museum.
“When I came to the Bhatia museum during my last visit to the UAE, I was so impressed with what I saw there, I left with almost tears in my eyes. I could see a wide variety of individuals, not just in present time cricketers or those with whom I played, but individuals I admired over the years.
Long history of sports
“To have such a long history of this sports there was special because I always felt we are all here as part of a relay. We are passing the baton regardless of whatever you may achieve in your lifetime and we move on. I made a serious commitment that day that whenever he was going to have his awards again here, I would be here.”
Richards decided to gift Bhatia something special. Presenting the blazer, Richards said: “Going to my locker room [at home] I dug deep to come up with something that I felt would be befitting, This is my old West Indian blazer, I am not sure I will be able to fit into it today but to have it in this museum, I think that would be so befitting.”
Richards then went on to hail Abdul Rehman Bukhatir. “What Bukhatir achieved through the Sharjah cricket ground was responsible to spread the game to other parts of UAE. I think it was a marvellous achievement from someone who converted his dream into true fulfilment.”
When asked about Virat Kohli, Richards said: “Kohli has arrived. He is a modern day player. He gets a lot of stick because people feel he is a feisty, but when you come up against the Australians and people like that who can be very nasty, you need an individual who is by nature as competitive as Kohli and long may he last.”
Does Kohli resemble him in any way? “People used to think that I am the most arrogant soul on earth. But when you compete you need to have a little arrogance about you. I have always felt that if I am going to compete I should have it. For me the maroon (West Indies) cap is the proudest thing that happened to me as an individual and I do believe Kohli feels the same.”
When asked whether he was disappointed he was born before the Twenty20 era, Richards said: “We [West Indies] started Twenty20. They hadn’t a name for it. It wasn’t T20, but we used to go out and entertain and that was the Caribbean way of playing. We used to hear folks in the Caribbean say you see ball and hit ball. That is what we did.”
