Gary Sobers breaks down as he talks about the current West Indies squad
An emotional Gary Sobers broke down into tears during a press conference while speaking about the current West Indies team’s performance, reports MidDay. Sobers is in Sri Lanka currently as he was invited as the chief guest for the second Test match in Colombo.
The former great all-rounder said that the current Windies squad don’t have players who play for their country like former players used to do.
Speaking about his contribution, Sobers said: "My whole obligation was to West Indies cricket. As I have always said, 'I have never made a run for me.’ I have always played for the West Indies teams, and it was such a pleasure and joy to be able to do what I did.”
The touring West Indies team faced lost the first Test match of the series by an innings and 6 runs in Galle. He blasted out on the Windies players and questioned their team game while comparing with other playing nations.
"I don't think we have that kind of person today. We might have them in different countries; we might have them in Sri Lanka, we might have them in England, in Australia, but I don't think we have that kind of person in West Indies anymore who is quite prepared to play and to give it everything to their country,” Sobers said.
He opined that the Carribean team will be struggling for a long period now as they don’t have the players who can play that well.
“And that hurts and until we can get people who are willing to play for WI in the right way, I think that we're going to be struggling for a long time," he concluded.
In a press meet before the second Test, Sobers blamed the cash-rich Indian Premier League for destroying the Test cricket culture and West Indies team.
West Indies were the team every team dreaded facing at one point of time in cricket history. As per the latest ICC Rankings, they are in the eighth position in both Tests and one-day internationals, while they are fourth in the Twenty20 format.
The Windies also missed out on qualifying for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy as they were ranked outside the top eight at the time of qualification for the tournament.
Sobers had an exceptional career for West Indies playing between 1954 and 1974. He scored 8032 runs in 93 Tests with an average of 57.78 while picking up 235 wickets at 34.03.
West Indies are currently playing the second Test against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval, Colombo. They are scheduled to play three ODIs and two T20Is after the Test series concludes.