If West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards was an active cricketer, former New Zealand wicketkeeper and popular commentator, Ian Smith, reckons the swashbuckling right-hander would've fetched more money at IPL auctions than the likes of Pat Cummins, Ben Stokes & co have done recently.
While Cummins went for a whopping sum of 15.5 crores to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for IPL 2020, Stokes was the expensive overseas recruit when Rajasthan Royals (RR) got him at 12.50 crores for 2018 edition.
Smith, however, reckons the ultimate swagger king from Antigua would've easily surpassed them.
"I believe Viv Richards would have made a go at cricket in any format in any decade. That's why, I mean you look at his strike rate which was superior to anyone else's at that time that is a T20 strike rate without even having that game in his mind," Ian Smith said on ICC's 'Cricket Inside Out'.
"He would have been an absolute legend in T20 cricket. They would have paid more money than Pat Cummins, Ben Stokes and all other guys put together, to get Viv Richards in their line-up, because it would put more bums on the seats. He would have been an absolute crowd-pleaser and television would have gone through the roof."
Richards played 121 Tests with 8,540 runs at 50.24 and 187 ODIs with 6,721 runs at 47.0. Well ahead of his times that he was, Richards struck at a rate of 90.20 in ODIs.
"I will sum it up by saying that whenever you sit down and pick all-time World XI, he is always in mind. I don't think I have ever played or commentated, I have seen a more imposing batsman come to the crease," concluded Smith.
(Inputs from India Today)
