Loud Thinking August 22, 2014 at 12:28PM

Imran Khan in the eyes of Sir Vivian Richards..!

Given below are some excerpts relating to Mr. Imran Khan, from the book titled “Sir Vivian”, an autobiography of famous West Indian cricketer, Mr. Vivian Richards. Co-authored by Bob Harris.

1. “He (Imran Khan) was one of the fiercest competitors and, no matter how well you were batting, he would always have a delivery which could come and destroy you. I respect him and his cricketing views; and if the Pakistani side had a leader they looked up to and respected like they did him, they would be a much better and more consistent team than they are now. He (Imran Khan) and Miandad are two of the most patriotic individuals I have met, and I can identify with that. I am quite certain you wouldn’t be hearing stories about match-fixing and other bad things if they were at the helm. Both would die for their country.

This is how the best players feel. It is so often the passion involved in playing for your country that leads to the raw aggression which can sometimes surprise spectators.” (Page 174).

2. “This wasn’t always the case around the world. Australia was notorious for ‘home’ decisions, and there were problems in Pakistan, in India and even at home in Caribbean. This is what brought about the change to neutral umpires. Imran Khan was maybe the first to demand neutral umpires, and when we toured Pakistan we had two Indian umpires.” (Page 207).

3. “They talk of reverse swing as something new, but when I first toured Pakistan in 1975 we saw Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz do it on a regular basis with the old ball.” (Page 213).

4. “I could never imagine a player like Imran Khan being involved in anything like that, because he loves his country, the way I love the West Indies and Ian Botham loves England. Imran’s pride wouldn’t allow him to, any more than ours would me or Ian. The problem needs to be taken more seriously and be throughly investigated. Anyone caught and proved beyond doubt to be involved in match-fixing should be given the maximum punishment, both within the game and under the laws of the country in which it happens. In my view, its a kind of treason, selling your country out. At one time that would have meant being put in front of a firing squad! How can anyone sell out his or her country for a few bucks? It is beyond my comprehension.” (Page 219).

Syed Nayyar Uddin Ahmad

Lahore.

Sent from my iPad3 4G LTE

Tags: My Views