West Indies legend Sir Viv Richards praised New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum as a “great ambassador for the game” after his record-breaking century on Day one of the ongoing second Test against Australia. Richards claimed that he was a big fan of McCullum and added that he was only happy to see his record for the fastest Test hundred broken by the 34-year-old.
McCullum, playing his 101st and final Test match, went all guns blazing despite coming into bat when his side was struggling as 32-3 and smashed the fastest ever Test century, reaching his 12th Test ton off just 54 balls. McCullum eclipsed the previous record of 56 balls jointly held by Richards and Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq before his whirlwind inning eventually ended at 145 off 79 balls.
Speaking after his record-breaking knock, McCullum had claimed that he felt embarrassed at surpassing the record set by his idol but Richards showed the admiration was mutual by saying that he was a big fan of McCullum.
"Let me take this opportunity to congratulate McCullum," Richards said, as reported by Times of India. "I have been a fan of yours for many years, so well done on your achievement.”
Richards went on to say that McCullum was one player he was delighted to see his record broken by. "If there was going to be an individual who you would have liked to surpass whatever you have achieved in life, certainly it would have been you. You are a great ambassador and make the game beautiful," he said. "I have always said that he has an aggressive style and it beautifies the game we all love."
Richards recalls his 54-ball hundred against England
Richards, who held on to the record of the fastest Test century scored off 54 balls against England at his hometown of Antigua in 1986 for close to 30 years before the feat was equalised by Misbah with his knock against Australia, looked back fondly on his knock and claimed that being skipper of the side, like McCullum and Misbah, had given them the license to bat freely.
“I guess it was against England in my hometown. You never really set yourself out to do such a thing but the situation at that particular time did demand that," recalled Richards. ”Whenever you are going well, you back yourself and I had always believed I could do that. When you are captain you give yourself the licence to throw your bat and be as aggressive as you can be.”
Richards added that the knock was special as it came in front of his home crowd.
"To have done that before your home crowd is a marvellous achievement and it's something that I think you would remember for quite some time," said Richards. "That's what happened in the end, it's always about aggression and I wanted to get quick runs and when you do that it's a marvellous achievement."
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