The Prince of West Indies: Revisiting Brian Lara's lofty peaks

2. Lara tames Murali at Sri Lanka, 2001-02 series

Often a lonely soldier waned by his team's mediocre showing with the bat, Lara did the bulwark of his side's scoring. What many held as a 'burden' of carrying an entire team's batting weightage on his shoulders, Lara saw an incredible opportunity and he regaled at being challenged .

In a series most noticeably hyped by the roaring battle of Murali's spin and Lara's willow, West Indies were completely dominated by a stellar Murali and Vaas show, losing the series haplessly.

But the only thing they could salvage from an otherwise distraught 3 test- match tour, was the man who commanded all headlines: Brian Charles Lara.

Scoring a mind-boggling 688 runs from 3 tests, Lara essayed some of the most pivotal knocks of his career, scoring mightily against the Sri Lankan duo who sent his side packing. In the process of displaying Lara's 221, 178, 130, Lara not only compiled 53 percent of the runs an entire West Indies team managed but came right on top of Murali's spin puzzles and the damning pace of Chaminda Vaas that his compatriots failed to tackle.

Lara sighted that the first 45 minutes at the crease were key to tackle Murali. If he would see Lara still on the crease beyond that, his confidence would begin to ebb away. The stylish leftie swept away the imposing pressure of Murali in his tremendous conjuring of runs at Sri Lanka