West Indian legend Michael Holding has played against a lot of top-notch cricketers and has bowled to the best of batsmen that the world of cricket has seen. He has also shared dressing rooms consisting of batsmen like Sir Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Alvin Kallicharan to name a few.

In an interview with SkySports, he named his teammate Sir Viv Richards as the best batsman in the history of the game. Known for his aggressive demeanor and batting style, he was idolized by the great Sachin Tendulkar as well.

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Holding said, “Viv is the best batsman I have seen against anything and everything. He never looked intimidated. Richard Hadlee in New Zealand, Dennis Lillee in Australia, Abdul Qadir in Pakistan, Bishan Bedi in India. Ian Botham in England. He got runs against anybody and everybody.”

“He destroyed a lot of bowlers in the Caribbean. He didn’t have to play against four West indies bowlers at once but he played against us [domestically] and he got runs against every team,” he added.

The 66-year-old also revealed a feature of his cricketing mind where he used to watch the first couple of overs of the game and then go to sleep knowing that he was expected to bat at No. 3. People would wake him up and send him in to bat.

Holding said, “As he was batting at No 3 for West Indies, I often saw him watch the first couple of overs, get a visual picture, and then go and sleep. People would have to wake him up and say ‘Viv, it’s your turn’. Sometimes it was early, sometimes, because you had (Gordon) Greenidge and (Desmond) Haynes, not so early!”

(With inputs from SkySports)