Former West Indies fast bowler explained why he isn’t heard doing commentary in the Indian Premier League, reiterating a personally held view about T20 cricket.
“I only commentate on cricket”
Michael Holding said when asked by the Indian Express for reasons behind his absence during a tournament as popular as the IPL.
Known as the ‘Whispering Death’ from his playing days, Holding has never been a fan of T20 cricket and even goes to the extent of not considering it as cricket at all.
Holding was also again vocal on West Indies’ unarrested decline as a Test and ODI outfit, putting it down to players prioritising the monetary benefits of playing T20 at the domestic and international level. Holding, however, said he doesn’t blame the players for the situation as much as he does the Caribbean administrators.
“Many West Indies players are not interested in playing for West Indies. When you are earning 600,000 or 800,000 dollars for six weeks, what are you going to do? I don’t blame the cricketers. I blame the administrators. West Indies will win T20 tournaments which aren’t cricket.”
he said
While three-time T20 World Cup champions, West Indies have been near pushovers against top-ranked sides in Tests and ODIs for nearly three decades now. Since 2000, Windies have lost 108 of their 202 Tests and 211 of their 374 ODIs. Their win-loss ratio of 0.39 in Tests and 0.65 in ODIs was the worst among traditional top 8 sides.
Holding, meanwhile, also spoke of Indian captain and one of the modern-day batting giants, Virat Kohli, hailing his personality and attitude on the field and comparing it to his great teammate Sir Vivian Richards.
“Virat Kohli is someone who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s someone who will let you know exactly how he feels. I think he gets a bit carried away at times, but that is Virat Kohli, that is the man. He’s similar to Viv (Richards) in that regard,”
he said.
