West Indies legend Wesley Hall to Virat Kohli: Hope you play many more years for India

Former West Indies pacer Wesley Hall met Indian captain Rohit Sharma, coach Rahul Dravid and batter Virat Kohli, and presented them with his biography ‘Answering the Call - The extraordinary life of Sir Wesley Hall’.

Former West Indies pacer Wesley Hall (left) and his daughter (right) present Indian batter Virat Kohli (centre) with a copy of his biography ‘Answering the Call - The extraordinary life of Sir Wesley Hall’ at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: ASHWIN ACHAL

With his long, flowing run up and pleasing action, Wesley Hall was a glorious sight on the cricket field. A tall, strapping fast bowler, the West Indian terrorised batters around the world in the late 1950s and 60s.

A muscular, genuine quick, Hall was a hugely popular cricketer. Alongside Charlie Griffith, the duo was the best new ball attack in the world.

Hall famously bowled the last over in the tied Test between Australia and West Indies at Brisbane in 1960.

Now 86, Hall still commands attention. He walked into the Kensington Oval here, assisted by his daughter, and was quickly surrounded by a large group of the media.

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Hall met Indian captain Rohit Sharma, coach Rahul Dravid and batter Virat Kohli, and presented them with his biography ‘Answering the Call - The extraordinary life of Sir Wesley Hall’.

Dravid was most pleased to meet the legend. Hall praised Dravid for being a great coach, and stated that the Indian batters were doing a tremendous job.

“Sir Hall, nice to meet you,” Kohli said to the man who was a box office star in his heyday.

When Hall spoke, a respectful Kohli was all ears. Hall described Kohli as an all-time great. “It is my pleasure to meet you - the best batter in the world. I have followed your career very closely from the time you started. I have seen a lot of great players in my time, and you are right up there. I hope you play many more years for India. When you are through, give as much help back (to the community) as you can,” Hall said.

Hall patiently took on questions from the media. Hall gave an honest view on franchise T20 cricket attracting the cream of the crop in the West Indies, at the expense of Test cricket in the region.

“If you ask me this (state of Test cricket in the West Indies) today, I would say I’m not concerned. But if you had asked me two years ago, I was very concerned. If I’m from the proletariat and I don’t have any money, and someone offers me a million dollars for four years of cricket, well then I cannot refuse it (laughs). We have to deal with it in such a way that this situation does not happen,” Hall said.