Viv Richards Height, Weight, Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards
Nickname(s)	Viv, Master Blaster, Smokin Joe, Smokey, King Viv, The Emperor
Profession	Former West Indian Cricketer
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 178 cm in meters- 1.78 m in feet inches- 5’ 10”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 80 kg in pounds- 176 lbs
Body Measurements (approx.)	- Chest: 42 inches - Waist: 35 inches - Biceps: 13 inches
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Cricket
International Debut	ODI- Vs Sri Lanka at Old Trafford on 07 June 1975 Test- Vs India at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on 22 November 1974
First Class Debut	In January 1972 for the Leeward Islands against the Windwards
Cap Number	Test- 151 ODI- 14
Domestic/State Teams	Combined Islands (1971-1981) Leeward Islands (1971-1991) Somerset (1974-1986) Queensland (1976-1977) Glamorgan (1990-1993)
Nature on Field	Aggressive
Loved to Play Against	England, Australia
Coach/Mentor	His brothers Mervyn and Donald
Favourite Shot	Hook
Records (main ones)	• First batsman to score a Test century at a strike rate of over 150 (1986) • highest individual ODI score when batting at number 4 position (189*) (1984) • First cricketer to score a fifty and to take a five wicket haul in the same ODI • First player to score a century as well as to take a five wicket haul in the same ODI match • First player to complete 1000 runs and taking 50 wickets in ODI history
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Wisden Cricketer of the Year (1977) • Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1994) • Knight of the Order of the National Hero (1999)
Career Turning Point	When he made unbeaten 192 against India in 1974 in New Delhi
Personal Life
Date of Birth	7 March 1952
Age (as in 2018)	66 Years
Birthplace	St. John's, British Leeward Islands (Now, Antigua and Barbuda)
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Pisces
Signature
Nationality	Antiguan
Hometown	St. John's
Schools	• St. John's Boys Primary School, St. John's, Antigua • Antigua Grammar School, Antigua
College/University	Did Not Attend
Religion	Cristianity
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian
Hobbies	Playing and Watching Football and Cricket, Listening to Music, Watching Movies
Girls, Affairs, and More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Neena Gupta (In the late 1980s)
Family
Wife/Spouse	Miriam
Children	Sons- Mali Richards (Cricketer), Matara Richards (Cricketer) Daughter- Masaba Gupta (Costume Designer)
Parents	Father- Malcom Richards (First Class Cricketer) Mother- Gretel Richards
Siblings	Brother- Donald Richards (Half) (First Class Cricketer), Mervyn Richards (Football Player) Sister- None
Favourite Things
Favourite Cricketers	Batsman- Sachin Tendulkar Bowler- Wasim Akram All-Rounders- Dwayne Bravo, Ian Botham
Favourite Football Club	Liverpool F.C.
Money Factor
Net Worth (approx.)	$20 million

Some Lesser Known Facts About Viv Richards

Does Viv Richards smoke?: Yes

Does Viv Richards drink alcohol?: Yes

When he was born, Antigua was a dependent territory of Britain, formerly known as the British Leeward Islands.

He started playing cricket at a very young age.

His brothers, Mervyn and Donald were cricketers and played as the amateur cricketers for Antigua. They encouraged him to the cricket.

In the beginning, he used to practice with his father and uncle.

When he was 18 years old, he left school and started to work at D’Arcy’s Bar and Restaurant in St. John’s.

Owner of the restaurant, D’Arcy Williams, helped him a lot and provided him with new whites, pads, gloves, and a bat.

He spent some seasons with St. John’s cricket club, later, he joined Rising Sun Cricket Club.

During his era, he was considered most powerful batsman with an extremely attacking style.

He was very famous for punishing the bowlers who dared to sledge him, for an instance, during a county match against Glamorgan, bowler Greg Thomas taunted him ‘its red, round and it’s about five ounces’ after Richards missed few deliveries. Richards hit the next ball for six out of the stadium into the nearby river and commented ‘you know what it looks like, now go and find it.’

In 1981, his book, Hitting Across the Line, was published. In the book, he described how his whole life got around sports, particularly Cricket.
Viv Richards’ Autobiography

In 1983, Richards tore up a blank cheque given to him by the South African Cricket board to play for a rebel West Indies team touring apartheid South Africa.

From 1984 to 1991, he captained West Indies for 50 test matches and won 27 of them, only 8 lost.

On 31 May 1984, playing an ODI match against England, he rescued West Indies from a very precarious situation, he scored his career’s highest score of 189 runs. He made 106 runs partnership with the last batsman of the team, who scored only 12 runs.
Viv Richards playing a shot during his 189

One of the most interesting facts about his 17 years long cricket career is that he never wore a helmet while batting.

In 2000, a 100-member panel of experts named him among the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. He got 25 votes, behind Sir Donald Bradman (100 votes), Sir Garfield Sobers (90 votes), Sir Jack Hobbs (30 votes), and Shane Warne (27 votes).

In 2010, he was featured in a documentary movie Fire in Babylon and spoke about his experiences playing for the West Indies.

Richards is often heard on BBC’s radio programme ‘Test Match Special‘.

He became the mentor of Delhi Daredevils for the 2013 IPL.

He has also mentored the Quetta Gladiators in Pakistan Super League from 2016 to 2018.

The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua has been named in his honour.

Viv Richards and English Cricketer Ian Botham are very good friends, they have been friends for more than a decade. He is also a godfather to Botham’s child Liam.