The Prince - Brian Charles Lara

 

The Prince - Brian Charles Lara (169, 277, 375, 400, 501 )

In the wake of Brian Lara's recent sudden retirement from  international cricket, I thought this was the appropriate time for a tribute to the world's best ever left handed batsman.. He made his debut in 1990 .. and He played the game at the highest level with great distinction until his retirement now... Though He was individually brilliant right through his career, the Westindies as a team disintegrated at a rapid rate.. All this culminated in the World Cup failure at home..

People may feel that Lara was unlucky to have played in such a team, This blog ll not harp on that point anymore.. This is just to celebrate the genius from Trinidad..
Lets analyze the reasons which make Lara the special batsman that he is..
HIS LEFT HANDED ELEGANCE AND CLASS: The left handers always have that added grace and elegance when compared to a right hander.. That is how God created them.. and Lara was foremost in the list of elegant left handers..
HIS WRISTY, FLASHY METHODS: The flashy drives, cuts through the cover and point region are trademarks of Lara.. These shots ll always evoke memories of Lara.. The wristy flicks,glances towards fine leg and nudges to third man also have the trademark Lara stamp
HIS POSITIVE,AGGRESSIVE BATTING: Spectators always like to see entertainers.. and Lara himself wants people to remember him as an entertainer.. He entertained, enthralled and waltzed his way through.. There was never a dull moment when he was batting, due to his aggression..
HIS PENCHANT TO PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE: When the going gets tough, the tough get going... There never was a tougher character than Lara.. He has always performed under pressure.. He has waged many lone battles.. He counts as a serious pressure player..His knocks of 213 and 153* back home against the Aussies are highly rated by people who matter..
HIS COMPLETE DOMINATION OF SPIN: Lara has conquered all the great spin kings.. from Warne to Muralitharan, Lara has seen them all and demoralised them.. His exploits in Lanka in 2001 ll never be forgotten though Windies lost the 3 match series 3-0..Warne being a leg spinner, never troubled Lara.. Lara would just come down the track and swat him on the leg side..Lara was immense in the 2001-02 series in Sri Lanka, scoring an astonishing 42% of West Indies' runs..

Lets look at some of Lara's best innings now
Sizzler at Sydney v Australia at Sydney, 1993..... 277
Going past Sobers v England in Antigua, 1994..... 375*
"I'm only 24, and I must try my best to keep going and to improve," Lara said. "I will be aiming to beat my record, and I think I can do it one day."
Birmingham blitz for Warwickshire v Durham, 1994......501
Lara amassed his world record in 474 minutes off only 427 balls, hitting 308 in boundaries (10 sixes and 62 fours)

His brilliant best v Australia, Barbados, 1998-99..... 153*
Lara, who went into the series against Australia with his captaincy under pressure, smacked 213 in the second Test and 100 in the fourth to give them a 2-2 draw. His most remarkable knock came in between at Bridgetown. Set 308 to win on a pitch which held few favours, West Indies slumped to 105 for 5. But Lara brilliantly marshalled the tail, adding 53 for the ninth wicket with Curtly Ambrose and nine vital runs for the last wicket with Courtney Walsh. Lara finished unbeaten on 153, an innings rated by Wisden.com in 2000 as the second-best in Test history.
Most runs in a losing side v SriLanka, December, 2001.... 221 and 130
The Prince overtakes The King November, 2003
Lara hammered 191 off just 203 balls, his first century against Zimbabwe, to become the highest run-scorer for West Indies, breaking Vivian Richards' record of 8540.
4,6,6,4,4,4 December, 2003 v SouthAfrica..... 202
West Indies were trailing by 228 runs in the first innings when Lara smashed 4,6,6,4,4,4, off Robin Peterson to break the world record for the most runs in an over. Lara went on to reach 202....

First to 400 April, 2004
He became the first man to break the 400-run barrier. It came against England. Six months earlier, Matthew Hayden had scored 380 against Zimbabwe to break Lara's 375 against England but Lara became the only man to reclaim the Test record score. That 400 saw him become the second player after Don Bradman to score two Test triple-centuries, and the second after Bill Ponsford to score two first-class quadruple-centuries.
10,000 runs v England at Old Trafford, 2004
Beyond 11,000 November, 2005
Lara not only joined the 11,000-club but also overtook Allan Border's world-record aggregate of 11,174 Test runs with a double-ton in the third Test at Adelaide. Lara, with eight double-centuries, moved clear of Wally Hammond's seven. Only Bradman, with 12, has more.

Enters the 10,000-club December, 2006
He joined Sachin Tendulkar in the exclusive club of batsmen with more than 10,000 ODI runs. He was the fastest batsmen to score 10,000 and 11,000 Test runs, in terms of number of innings.

In spite of Lara being a great batsman, He never quite shone as a captain..His lone successes came in the ICC Champions Trophy in England in 2004 when WestIndies won unexpectedly and in the ICC Champions Trophy in India in 2006 when the Windies reached the finals... People have attributed that to his poor man management qualities, his lack of discipline etc etc.. But all that is secondary.. Lara should be remembered as the world's best batsman and rightly so...

 

 

 
THANKS FOR ALL THE MEMORIES.. We are waiting fot your comeback ....

To read the full transcript of Lara's press conference click here.

Source: The Prince - Brian Charles Lara