Former West Indies fast bowling legend Michael Holder said he doesn’t think T20 is cricket, so he doesn’t comment on the Indian Premier League.
Michael Holding was one of the legendary fast bowling drummers in the heyday of the West Indies. He made no secret of his contempt for the T20 format and even said that he didn’t even think it was cricket. Take it, I’m talking to the Indian Express, when he said that winning the T20 tournament is not a rebirth of the team because it is not even cricket, the old-school fast bowler is not ambiguous. He attributed the situation in the West Indies in the cricket test to this format, adding that for the same reason, he did not comment on the Indian Premier League.
“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,” said Holding said.
Asked why he didn’t do commentary on, Holding replied tersely: “I only commentate on cricket.”
The 67-years-old has compared the Indian captain Virat Kohli to Viv Richards but said Kohli has to tone down a bit as he gets carried away with the emotions on the field.
“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. Viv, sometimes on the field, was over-expressive. But those are the personalities of those two gentlemen. They can tone down a little bit as well, but then, if you are a Mustang, it’s hard to tell a Mustang to trot. He’s going to gallop,” added Holding.
Holding launched a new book, “Why We Kneel, How We Rise” where he talked about the institutional and systematic discrimination against blacks over the years.
