King Richards holds court on cricket

Like a powerful magnet, he kept drawing those around him, towards him. And like many, many before them had done, each and every member of the Quetta Gladiators listened to the man in front of them with rapt attention. After all, it was Viv Richards: the king of cricket.

Clad in the grey team attire, a black Emporio Armani cap, branded black sunglasses, and a thin grey French beard, Richards looks as imposing as ever. But he is not intimidating. Instead, on his first day of the Pakistan Super League, where he is the mentoring the Gladiators, Richards showed a light-hearted personality that put the inexperienced Pakistani youngsters at ease.

Despite having never played the Twenty20 format, Richards remains a favourite with franchises in various domestic leagues, including the IPL, Big Bash League and the Caribbean Premier League. A singular presence during his time as a top-order batsman for West Indies, Richards has been hired by teams to not just perform the role assigned to an after-dinner speaker, but more importantly, to inject a heavy dose of motivation in young players. T20 cricket is a pressure sport, after all.

On Tuesday, at the sprawling ICC Cricket Academy campus, Richards' baritone voice and big-hearted laughter echoed all around. He is 63-years-old, but never for once did he act his age. Instead, Richards puts his arms around young Pakistan players like Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq, while earnestly responding to their numerous questions.

"It was my first meeting with him. I had never seen him play, but I had heard about him," Sarfraz, Gladiators' captain, said. "He said that you should never have doubt when you play. He said when he went in to bat he never had doubts in his mind. 'Even if I walked in without wearing a helmet I knew that I would not be hurt by the ball,' he told us. He said if I am playing at this level then I must be good. But if I had fear inside then no one could help me."

A sturdy and aggressive middle-order batsman, Sarfaraz specifically wanted to know the role he should play in a dynamic format like T20 where pressure is omnipresent.

"In his opinion, my decision should be backed by the team. And if the team backed me it would be successful. Importantly, he said that at all times, good or bad, the team should always be one and trust each other."

What was fascinating for Sarfaraz to see was Richards, despite his legendary status, behaving like one of his friends.

"He had an aura when he played. But today he was one of us. He is our mentor and made us feel at ease." When Moin Khan introduced Richards to the group as "Sir", he was told "in the future, forget the 'Sir'. Vivian is okay." You could hear the laughter among the Gladiators' group from a distance.

Richards' message to Sarfaraz was straight and simple: "If you do not believe in yourself no one is going to believe you. So you got to trust yourself all the time. And back yourself. That's why you are here. So it is important that you yourself trust yourself and believe that you are good enough."

Former Pakistan wicket-keeper Moin, who is Gladiators' head coach, was not surprised by Richards' popularity. "Look at them, every one of those players is standing and listening to him," Moin turned back, pointing to the group listening intently to Richards. For Moin, Richards is the pioneer in making cricket aggressive. "He taught all of us that you can quicken the pace of the game. He is a big inspiration."

According to Richards, the key in T20 cricket is to stay committed to the task at hand. To stay committed to the role given to you. "I am here basically to try and instil as much confidence as possible. As you know, T20 cricket is very spontaneous. The things that you see on a regular basis is tough to coach. What I am here for is to inspire (with) whatever information that is necessary. There are a lot of young kids here and I am quite happy doing that," Richards said.

For the last nine years, Pakistan has been starved of international cricket at home. Consequently, the domestic players and youngsters like Sarfraz have been denied the opportunity of watching live cricket, attending training sessions, and interacting with past greats in the flesh. These are all important steps in the evolution of a young player.

It's not just Richards. Kevin Pietersen (Gladiators), Chris Gayle (Lahore Qalandars) and Shane Watson (Islamabad United) are all reputed and proven names that can teach a thing or two the uncapped domestic Pakistani youngster.

As Sarfaraz said, the PSL has now presented him and all Pakistan players across the five franchises that lost opportunity. "He [Richards] has already put the confidence inside us where we can walk up to him and ask any question we want. That is what I would like to do for the next 20 days."