Clive Lloyd (West Indies)
Tuesday, December 24 2002 16:28 Hrs (IST)

Clive Lloyd, a charismatic captain for the famous West Indies team, won the 1975 and 1979 World Cups with his strategic moves as well as his explosive batting. Some very good bowlers no doubt aided this left-handed batsman like Andy Roberts, Michael Holding but undoubtedly one cannot take away credit from the captain.

Lloyd in fact started playing One-day Internationals in the year 1973 with his debut match against England. Two years later he won the World Cup for his side. A much remembered performance of Lloyd was against Australia where he hit a flawless 102 with the West Indians winning by 17 runs. He also bowled occasionally and played a hand in his team’s victory over Pakistan where he scored a fluent 53 and took the wicket of top scorer Majid Khan.

Everybody knows that the 1983 World Cup went to the Indians where they won against Lloyd’s team, which had made it to the final with some fantastic performances. That final was to be his last World Cup match. In the 1983 final he could not conjure up anything special and managed only eight runs for his side as India won by 43 runs.

Lloyd played a total of 17 World Cup matches and made 393 runs at a superb average of 43.67 runs. In those days that kind of an average was remarkable. He made two half-centuries and hit one ton. He had an economy rate of 3.47 runs per over, an exceptional performance from a part-time bowler.

People were drawn to the stadium every time he played. He possessed a silken touch and was very quick on his feet despite his physique. He will always be remembered for his effortless batting and leadership.

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