Viv Richards, former West Indies batsman, turned 69 on Sunday and he was greeted with a special birthday wish from Virat Kohli. The India skipper took to Twitter to wish Richards, calling him the “greatest ever” and “fearless king”. “Happy birthday to the greatest ever. The fearless king. Sir viv @ivivianrichards,” Kohli tweeted. Both Kohli and Richards have expressed their mutual respect for each other on various occasions. During India’s tour to the West Indies in 2019, Richards, in an interview with Kohli, had pointed out the similarities between the two.

Happy birthday to the greatest ever. The fearless king. Sir viv @ivivianrichards

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) March 7, 2021

“I always felt I was good enough to be competing. I wanted to express myself in the best way that I can, I see that little similarity, that passion. There are times when folks would look at us in different ways and say wow, why so angry?” he said

Richards made his Test debut against India in Bengaluru in 1974 and entered the limited overs circuit next year in Manchester against Sri Lanka.

Richards played 121 Test matches and scored 8,540 runs with the help of 24 centuries and 45 half-centuries. He averaged over 50 in the longest format of the game. 

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The explosive right-handed batsman also represented the West Indies in 187 One-Day Internationals and hit 11 hundreds and 45 half-centuries. 

Richards amassed 6,721 runs at an average of 47. The West Indian was also a handy bowler and had 118 wickets to show for his efforts in the limited overs format.