Wesley Hall Celebrates Virat Kohli As A Cricketing Legend

Bridgetown (Barbados), June 19 (PTI): Legendary West Indies pacer Wesley Hall has seen many great batters over the years, and in his opinion, Indian superstar Virat Kohli ranks among the all-time legends of the game.

The 86-year-old from Barbados, who formed a lethal bowling partnership with Charlie Griffith in the 1960s, also believes that modern-day West Indies players can't be expected to turn down lucrative franchise cricket contracts, even though it impacts Test cricket in the region.

In stark contrast to the nomadic life of a current international cricketer, Hall played 48 Tests in a career spanning 16 years. He was a special guest at the Kensington Oval on Tuesday when he met members of the Indian team and presented his autobiography to Kohli and head coach Rahul Dravid during their second training session.

Having also served as sports minister of Barbados, Hall reserved humbling words for Kohli in his brief chat with the former India captain.

"You have come to practice and you have to see an old man," he said to break the ice with the Indian mainstay. "I have seen a lot of great players and you are one of them. I have followed your career and I hope you play for India for many more years," said Hall.

#WATCH | Former West Indies cricketer Wesley Hall met Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and gifted his book to him, in Barbados. pic.twitter.com/RPbVaIdiBV

ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2024

T20 cricket in the West Indies seems to be thriving, but the same can't be said about Tests, the only format Hall played and excelled at. The Caribbean icon feels administrators need to find a way to prevent a mass exodus from the longest format.

"Well, I would say that if your date is today, I'm not concerned. But if you told me two years ago, I was very concerned. And that's what happens," he said when asked about the state of red-ball cricket in the region.

"You just need to get some players who will stick with you. At one time, we had some great players, but they weren't playing Test cricket. But that's the problem," he added.

"If I am from the proletariat, I don't have any money and somebody offered me a million dollars for four years, well then I could not really refuse it. So we have to sort of deal with it in such a way that it doesn't happen every day," said Hall.

Asked about his views on how the game has changed over the years, Hall said he doesn't like that cricket has become batter-friendly.

"One has to be aware that things will change. Now we are wondering what's happening, especially if you go into the area where you play the game of 20 overs. There are certain things that I wonder about."

"I just wonder why would batsmen be able to bat through the whole innings while bowlers are restricted to four overs. I often ask that," he remarked.

Hall, who stands at 6'5", believes a good fast bowler has to be at least six feet tall. He is also a fan of Jasprit Bumrah and is impressed with India's pace talent. "Earlier you had only Kapil Dev; now you have so many," he noted.

"You have to remember that immediately after we left the scene, we had about two fast bowlers in the West Indies. Some of them couldn't get in the side. We need to look for some good pacemen."

"I like a paceman that is six foot tall. When you put a ball in the slip corner like how Big Bird Joel Garner used to do it, and (Curtly) Ambrose. These fellows bowl and they're able to get that bounce," said Hall.