KARACHI: Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar is confident that the addition of legendary Sir Vivian Richards as team mentor would certainly boost the team’s hopes of claiming the title in the inaugural edition of the event.

The big West Indian dominated bowlers for almost 15 years, between 1975 and 1990, with his brave batting displays and won over the crowd wherever he went with his extraordinary batting displays.

“There aren’t many players who come close to the stature and aura of Viv Richards and he would certainly give us the cutting edge to win the title with his knowledge of the game,” Nadeem said in a statement.

“He was intimidating and daunting in his playing time and he still posses the same charisma. We’re sure that once he would work with our players and sit in our dugout, the opposition would be on the backfoot as they would know that Viv is mentoring our guns. I’m sure that he would turn the good into better and the better ones into the best ones.”

During his glittering career, Richards played 121 Tests amassing 8,540 runs with a staggering average of 50.23 scoring 24 centuries and 45 half-centuries.

He was well ahead of the time and played at a brisk strike-rate even in that era as he accumulated 6,721 runs in 187 One-day Internationals at an average of 47 with a fantastic strike-rate of 90.20. The right-handed batsman scored 11 centuries and 45 fifties in ODIs and is still regarded as one of the most fearsome batsmen of all-time.

Richards would join the Gladiators’ team directly in the United Arab Emirates.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2016