Legendary West Indies pacer Wesley Hall has seen a lot of great batters over the years and in his opinion, Indian superstar Virat Kohli belongs right at the top with 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 feels that the modern day West Indies players can’t be expected to turn down million-dollar contracts in franchise cricket though it does impact the health of 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 here on Tuesday when he met members of the Indian team and presented his autobiography to Kohli and head coach Rahul Dravid on the sidelines of their second training session.
“Well, 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, the bowlers are restricted to four bowlers. I often ask that.”
Hall, who is 6’5″, believes a good fast bowler has to be at least six feet. He is also a fan of Jasprit Bumrah and is impressed with the pace talent in India.
“Earlier you had only Kapil Dev, now you have so many,” he remarked.
“You have to remember that immediately after we left the scene, you know, 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. When you put a ball in the slip corner, like how Big Bird Joel Garner used to do it, and (Curtly) Ambrose. These fellows, they bowl and they’re able to get that bounce,” said Hall.