Former British cricketer-turned-umpire Ian Gould retired last year from international cricket. The final international match in which he stood was India versus Sri Lanka ODI in the 2019 World Cup. Recently, Gould participated in an interview where he was asked to name three batsmen he enjoyed watching the most. The former English umpire responded to the question and picked Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
Gould stated that he loved watching Kallis and could sit and watch the former South African all-rounder bat all day. The 62-year-old picked former India great Sachin Tendulkar and current skipper, Virat Kohli, as the two other batsmen he loved watching.
Gould also rated former Australian captain Ricky Ponting as an outstanding character.
“Jacques Kallis. I loved watching Jacques. He was a very, very fine player. Sachin. And probably Virat. I was unlucky in some respects. I didn’t see the best of Ricky Ponting. He was an outstanding character, outstanding captain, such a proud Australian,” said Gould during his interview with ESPNCricinfo.
“But his career was just starting to wane as I came on the scene. But he was incredibly helpful, so I’m disappointed I have to leave him out. Jacques Kallis, I could sit and watch all day, Virat, the same. And Sachin, if you want someone to bat for your life, he was the man,” he added.
Gould showered praiseworthy comments on the current India captain stating Kohli is a lovely guy, and he knows everything about the game. Gould felt that Virat’s popularity is just like Tendulkar carrying the hopes of billions.
“He’s a funny man. Yeah, he batted like me a couple of times. I had to tell him off for slogging it. He’s a charmer. He’s one of those guys who’s got, a bit like Sachin Tendulkar, the whole of India on his back, but you wouldn’t know. You could walk into a restaurant and sit and chat with him for hours. He’s a very worldly boy. When you look at Virat, you’re thinking male model, pin-up boy, but he knows about the game inside out, the past, history. Lovely guy,” Gould added further.
Gould stood as an umpire in 74 Test matches, 140 One-Day Internationals (ODIs), and 37 T20 Internationals (T20Is).
