St John's–Former West Indies captain Sir Vivian Richards said the onus is now on Trinidadian Denesh Ramdin to prove he is the right man for the job after being appointed captain of the West Indies Test team earlier this month.
Sir Viv, who was the subject of Ramdin's controversial gesture while celebrating a century during a Test against England in 2012, said he had always had high hopes for the wicketkeeper/batsman.
Upon reaching his century, the player waved a piece of paper with the words "Yeah Viv Talk Nah" scribbled, and pointing it in the direction of the media centre where the cricketing great sat.
"Sometimes, if you get the right sort of substance and you think that's the person who can help to move you forward, there is nothing wrong with that. But, as I said, he has a hard task ahead of him. West Indies are in a position that, I guess, we are very uncomfortable with and I can only wish him the very best," he said.
"I have always felt he has the talent to be a captain regardless of whatever he did at Trent Bridge and all that sort of stuff. He would have lost his way and I am hoping that at some point, that in a big way could be of enormous help for him in the future moving forward."
Ramdin, according to the cricketing legend, will need the support of all current players if he is to succeed in his new role.
"What I think is important also is that the other players who are part of that unit, that they all realise the position we are in and it isn't just up to Denesh Ramdin to turn it around," he said.
"When you look at our performances over the years in that senior team, we have always looked a little sporadic. The team unity I guess and the spirit and the energy that one needs to be successful are sometimes missing and his job is to try and rekindle that."
Sir Viv, who scored 8,540 runs in 121 Test matches at an average of 50.23, lauded Darren Sammy for doing a "magnificent job."
"Darren Sammy, in my opinion, when West Indies cricket was on its knees, he apparently did a magnificent job helping to stop the flow in terms of where we were going at the time because it looked like we were on a downward spiral and Darren Sammy has done a magnificent job and let us not forget that," he said.
"Sammy came at a time when West Indies needed some leadership and, to me, he held his hands up and I am proud of him in terms of the leadership role he would have played."
Sir Vivian is currently in Barbados working with the Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre's team for the upcoming series with Bangladesh A, starting there next week.
(CMC)
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