Brian Lara - the erratic genius

The year was 1993, ground Sydney’s SCG, a young left hander Brian Lara announced himself on the international scene with a scintillating 277 to help West Indies win the series against Australia 2-1.

This young Trinidadian never looked back from that innings and went on to become arguably the best modern batsman in the world of cricket. Brian Charles Lara made batting look like an art. His high back lift, his glorious cover drives, square cuts and immeasurable amounts of concentration redefined the art of test match batting.

Along with Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, Lara is considered to be one of the modern greats who have redefined the modern art of batting. He made batting look glorious and effortless even in the worst of the conditions.

In 1994, he made in to the annals of test cricket, when he made 375* against England. He broke the record for the highest individual score in tests. In the same year, he broke the record for the highest score in a first class innings, when he made 501* for Warwickshire against Durham.

He was the sole batsman who along with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, managed to keep the West Indian batting afloat in the most difficult period for their cricket.

As a teenager and then as the mainstay for the West Indian cricket he played some of the best innings for his country. Most noticeable innings were 153* against the Australians in 1998 test at Bridgetown and 221 and 130 in the same test against the SriLanka in 2001. He scored 9 double centuries second only to Sir Don Bradman` s 12.

Lara was noticeable for his ability to dominate attacks and play long innings. He was comfortable against both spin and pace. He also captained the West Indian team from 1998-1999 and then in 2003 and 2004-2005. In between, he lost his highest score record to Matthew Hayden, who scored 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003. But he became the first batsman to reclaim his record when he scored 400 not out against England in 2004, six months after losing the record.

He led West Indies to the Champions Trophy title in 2004 in England and led them to sort of resurgence after a period of disappointing results. He also led his team to a 4-1 ODI series victory against India in 2006.

But the results of test matches and signs of his erratic captaincy, made sure that time had come for the sun to set on this genius`s time in cricket. The 2007 Cricket World Cup held in West Indies gave him the stage to go out with a blaze of glory. But fate made sure that didn`t happen and his ODI happened to be his 299^th appearance in West Indies colors. He was run out on 18 in a game, which England won by 1 wicket and West Indies didn`t made it to the last 4 of the tournament.

Brian Lara held numerous records in cricket. He has been inducted into the Cricket Hall of fame. But I remember him as the batsman who made mockery of bowlers such as Wasim, Waqar, Donald, Mcgrath , Murali and Warne and played the game according to his own rules. He was accused selfish play and playing for records when he scored the record breaking 400 against England. He was accused of leading a mutiny of players against the west Indies cricket board in 2005. But all that aside, West Indies are more than proud to claim him as their prince, their best batsman and probably the most charismatic cricketer in the cricket history.

Trivia about Brian Lara:

*Holds the record of most runs scored in an over in test cricket. He scored 28 runs in a Robin Peterson over in 2006.

*He is only the second player to hold both of the highest individual score records in test and first class cricket simultaneously. Sir Don Bradman held the previous record in 1930s with 334 in test matches and 452* in first class cricket.

*Only player to score 7 centuries in 8 innings in first class cricket in 1994-1995.

*Holds the 3^rd fastest ODI hundred off 44 balls against Canada in 2003 World Cup.

*Named his daughter Sydney, after the ground where he scored his first century 277 against Australia in Sydney Cricket Ground.

*Played for Mumbai Champs in the defunct ICL in 2007.

*His 153 against Australia in 1998 in West Indies is considered as the second best test innings.