Sir Clive Lloyd: One of the greatest cricketing minds

The West Indies came to the Indian shores in 1966 with an army of stalwarts waiting in their ranks – Sobers, Kanhai, Hall, Griffiths, Gibbs, Hunte to name a few. Not many would have expected a young man in his debut series to steal their limelight.

Clive Lloyd, standing at 6 foot 5 inches with thick glasses covering most of his face, grabbed eyeballs in his debut game in Bombay, replacing the injured Seymour Nurse. The southpaw looked completely at ease against the spin trio of Nandakari, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan. A star was born. Lloyd became an instant crowd favourite.

He made vital contributions in both the innings. He was a flamboyant destroyer of bowlers on his day. His lazy gait proved to be greatly deceptive for he was simply electric in the field.

It was in 1972 in, Australia playing for the Rest of The World XI, that Lloyd met with a career-threatening injury. While fielding against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval, Ashley Mallet drove a ball from Intikhab Alam uppishly towards extra cover and Lloyd jumped to his right to pouch the catch. He lost his balance and fell awkwardly on his back.

He was hospitalized immediately. It appeared to be a spinal injury and doctors felt that had the bone protruded 3/4th of an inch more he would have been paralyzed for life.

Sir Clive Lloyd was destined to go down in history as one of the greatest captains to have ever stepped on the cricket field. After all, he led the West Indies to the top of world cricket for two decades. It was under Sir Clive’s captaincy that the West Indians won the first two Prudential World Cups.

He was a man who was successful in winning the respect of his players. If he wanted an extra over from Andy Roberts he would get it, even in the sweltering heat of Madras. Many would say he had an array of great players playing for him – Richards, Haynes, Greenidge, and his treasured pace battery.

But he knew how to get the best out of each one of them which is what great captains do. He is also responsible for making some of these players what they are today. Clive Lloyd has forever left a mark on the game of cricket.

The man took West Indian cricket to places it had never been before and is unlikely that it would be there again. If numbers were regarded the man from Guyana captained in 84 ODIs, winning 64 of them. This puts him in the first place when the highest win percentage is taken into consideration.