- Richards was a Cricketer who represented the West Indies team.
- His son Mali Richards plays cricket in England.
- His two brothers played cricket for Leeward Islands, Donald Richards (from 1968-1970) and Mervin Richards (1973-1974).
- Played in 4 Cricket World cups for the West Indies. Winner in 1975 & 1979, Runner-up in 1983 and First Round in 1987.
- He captained the West Indies cricket team from 1984-1991 and never lost a Test series. He played in a total of 121 Test Matches (1974-1991) & 187 One day internationals (1975-1991).
- In December 2002, he was chosen by Wisden as the greatest ODI batsman of all time, as well as the third greatest Test batsman of all time, after Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar.
- He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.
- During his prime years in the 1980s, he modelled for India's then premier suitings brand Only Vimal.
- Represented Somerset and Glamorgan in English County Cricket.
- Surprisingly for a man rated in the same category as Sir Don Bradman, in Richards' farewell test innings he had to score at least 20 to ensure he retired with a test batting average of 50 or just a fraction above.
- Chosen as one of the five "Wisden Cricketers Of The Century", alongside Australians Sir Don Bradman and Shane Warne, Englishman Sir Jack Hobbs and fellow West Indian Sir Garfield Sobers.
- His career best score of 189 against England at Old Trafford was officially rated by Wisden as the greatest individual One Day International batting performance of all-time.
- Scored 1710 runs for the calendar year 1976-77 at an average of 90, including 7 centuries. The run tally stood was a record for any particular year in cricket history until broken by Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf in 2006.
- Played a crucial role in each of West Indies' World Cup final wins: He executed 4 run-outs during Australia's innings in 1975 and scored 138 against England in 1979. He was also West Indies' top-scorer in the 1983 final against India with 33 runs but India ended up winning the match. Richards however did score a match winning 80 in the semi-final against Pakistan.
- Was severely critical of Brian Lara for most of the latter's career to the extent labelling his record breaking 400* against England at Antigua in 2004 as one of the most selfish knocks in cricket history.
- Was included in Richie Benaud's Dream XI as a middle order batsman.
- During the 1985-86 home series against England, Richards hit a 56-ball century at Antigua. It remained a record as the fastest test hundred ever before Australian Adam Gilchrist registered a 53-ball ton during the 2006 Ashes.
- Voted by ESPN as the 3rd greatest cricketer of all-time, behind only Australia's Sir Don Bradman and fellow West Indian Sir Garfield Sobers.
- A prodigious athlete, Richards represented Antigua in the 1974 Football World Cup Qualifiers.
- Was in a relationship with Indian actress Neena Gupta. His daughter with Gupta, Masaba, is a fashion designer.
- Had a fierce on field rivalry with Australian pace legend and off the field good friend Dennis Lillee. Richards ended up on the winning note as even during Lillee's prime as the best ranked bowler in the world, each of his 7 dismissals of Richards cost him 48.43 runs.
- Favourite batsman, alongside India's Sunil Gavaskar, of former Pakistan captain Imran Khan.
- Was offered a blank cheque to participate in the rebel tours to South Africa, which was serving an international sports ban due to its Apartheid practices. Richards, himself a vocal opponent of racial discrimination, declined the offer outright.
- Is very good friends with legendary English all-rounder Sir Ian Botham to the extent Botham named Richards the godfather of his son Liam.
- Considers India's Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest modern day batsman in both tests and ODIs owing to his supreme technique and sublime consistency. Coincidentally, Tendulkar grew up idolizing Richards.
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