Viv Richards

St John’s: West Indies legend Sir Vivian Richards is not averse to the idea of coaching the Indian team and make the players “mentally stronger”. Richards said the Indians were the most talented side on paper, but lacked the mental toughness to be able to succeed at the highest level.

Asked specifically if he would coach India, he said: “I would like to be a part of the Indian set up. I would deal with the mental side of things”.

“I believe I would be very helpful in the mental side of things. I have done many motivational speeches and chat with some of the best teams in the world...I think I could help where the head is concerned,” Richards told a TV channel.

Disappointed with India’s early exit, the former West Indian captain said teams from the sub-continent needed to have “a sense of steel in the mind” while performing in bigger tournaments.

“I am very disappointed. I have always felt that on paper they are the most talented team that you can see. I also believe the same for Pakistan... But I also believe that when it comes to such huge occasions, mentally they never seem to get it right.

“I think in the future that is one of the things that they will have to work on. How strong you can get these guys mentally will matter because cricket is not just about the ability and talent that you have in order to go out and hit the ball around,” he pointed out.

Richards is disappointed by the failure of his favourite player Sachin Tendulkar, but stopped short of asking him to hang his boots. “It’s not up to me to ask him to retire. He’s been one of my favourites and I’m more disappointed than anyone else at his failure to do well in this World Cup,” said Richards, who was the Indian’s childhood hero.

Sachin, arguably the greatest ODI batsman, scored 7, 54 and 0 in India’s disastrous World Cup campaign.

But Richards said instead of faulting one individual, the entire squad must share take the blame for the debacle.

He also believed it was wrong to blame coach Greg Chappell for India’s pathetic show.

“Too many times coaches are blamed for a side’s poor performance. I don’t think that’s right. Players too must take the responsibility. A coach can do only so much. It’s the players who have to go out in the middle and perform,” he said.

Richards said India and other teams needed to learn about mental aggression and toughness from the present-day Aussies. “You watch (Australian captain) Ricky Ponting from the first ball and he is there. He is making an announcement that he wants to take you on. The way Matthew Hayden played (against the West Indies), these guys are mentally very, very tough.

“Other teams need to learn from their example. It’s very difficult in international cricket to remain mentally tough all the time. It’s a very hard sport.”

Richards drew from the instance of his own playing days and how he wanted to dominate the opposition in the park.

“I walked on to the park and it might have given the impression that I owned the park. There could have been a fast bowler who must have thought the same. The way I looked at it, my attitude might force the fast bowler to rethink his position a bit,” he said. (PTI)