Sir Viv Richards is a two-time World Cup winner with the West Indies. He was part of the Caribbean team that won the inaugural World Cup in England in 1975, and then four years later again — this time also scoring an iconic ton in the final against England.
So he is the man who understands what winning a World Cup means, what winning back-to-back World Cups means to a team, to its fans and to the cricket world at large.
Richards, who was a nightmare for bowlers in his day thanks to his explosive style of batting, has let his opinion be known on the recent T20 World Cup win by India in its own backyard. Out of their nine matches, India played 8 games on their home soil; only the match against Pakistan was played outside the country, in Sri Lanka, which was also the co-hosts.
The great batsman speaks!
Richards has validated India’s win on all counts. Like, there shouldn’t have been another winner. “India are a great team. India have taken the game to a different level, more so in the limited overs, the ODIs, the T20s, and when you have masses of people, the billion, it is a great present for them, because of the love, and the passion they show for the game.
“I think it is the right result because of the love and the passion, and the country it was played in,” the West Indian told PTI.
And Richards is right about India’s domination in white-ball cricket. In the last four ICC limited-overs events, they have reached all four finals, and except the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad, they have won the remaining three: the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies, Champions Trophy in the UAE and Pakistan and now the 2026 T20 World Cup.
India continues to be the most happening place for cricket. All of their matches were packed to the rafters. Their last three matches at the Eden Gardens, the Wankhede Stadium and the Narendra Modi Stadium saw extraordinary support for them. One has to say the crowds were the team’s 12th player in many ways, and helped them not a little. Richards is of course, right. When you have a great team and great supporting crowds, you deserve to win.
