“Godfather of Indian batsmanship” - Viv Richards picks favorite batter between Tendulkar, Kohli & Gavaskar during IML T20 2025

West Indian legend Sir Vivian Richards was tasked with picking his favorite Indian batter between Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virat Kohli during the ongoing International Masters League T20 2025. The former West Indian batter had no hesitation in going for Gavaskar as India's best, calling him the 'Godfather of Indian batsmanship'.

Richards hailed Gavaskar's ability to deliver consistent performances against the incredible West Indian bowling attack when other teams used to fear them. Gavaskar scored 13 Test centuries against the West Indies in 27 games at a stunning average of 65.45.

Responding to a question by CricketNext on India's best batter, Richards said (via News18):

"I would have played against Sunil Gavaskar, certainly. And I think I would have mentioned this on many occasions that Sunil Gavaskar is the godfather of Indian batsmanship. Why do I say that? Because I would have seen Sunil a lot, as a player. Anyone who can score 14 Test hundreds against the best attack in the world at the time, to me, you’ve got to put him up there with the very best. So that’s why I will say the same."

He added:

"I watched him for quite some time. Fourteen hundreds against the best attack where other batsmen would have fear. Sunil came out on top. Sachin, wow, what else? Look at the figures; that tells you. And as I said, this whole batsmanship business was passed on by Sunny (Gavaskar) because of his achievement. Sunny to Sachin, Sachin to Virat."

"And certainly there’s a lot of other good guys out there waiting to be in that category as well. Because, as I said, India is filled with magnificent batsmanship."

Gavaskar was the first-ever batter to score 10,000 Test runs and remains India's third leading run-scorer in the red-ball format with 10,122 runs, including 34 centuries. Meanwhile, Tendulkar and Kohli are India's all-time leading run-scorers across formats with 34,357 and 27,514 runs, respectively.

"It's just his fighting spirit, the energy, the passion to do well" - Viv Richards on Virat Kohli

Kohli overcame poor batting form to stun Pakistan in the ongoing Champions Trophy [Credit: Getty]

Viv Richards recently praised Virat Kohli for his fighting spirit even as he has battled poor form over the past year. The 36-year-old has struggled across formats since 2024, with only two centuries and an average of under 25 in 29 outings.

However, Kohli brought out his best in India's crucial encounter against Pakistan in the ongoing Champions Trophy, scoring an unbeaten century to help the side win by six wickets.

"It's not all the time that you get players who - when they are down, can come back. But it's just his fighting spirit, the energy, the passion to do well, that's why I put them up there with the very best. He's able to go through bad times and then to all the bad times, they become good," said Richards (via India Tv News).

He added:

"I think he answers all of us really. I guess he had to work up before these ODIs. He wasn't doing that well, and then he came back in magnificent form. So that is a true testament to the character that we're speaking about, and this is why I put him in the category of being great and legendary."

Kohli will look to help India advance to a third consecutive Champions Trophy final with a win over Australia in the semifinal in Dubai on March 4.