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Brian Lara

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 A Feature by Karthik Narayan

Even as England scored their winning run, in the 4th and Final test, WI tour of England, Aug 16, 2004, my heart sank to that great West Indian batsman, Brian Lara. A personal favourite of mine, and almost everyone in this world, a regular in any world XI, this great Trinidadian born Brian Charles Lara entered the record books.

Just one day after he hits the record books by leveling a great milestone of 10000 test runs.. And having the privilege of being the fastest to the mark, our legend for all seasons has hit a low.

Records are his Forte

Lara keeps the statisticians very busy:

Wrong reasons, though, this time around! 

Unlike his typical record breaking batting doing the talking, his captaincy has come under as much scrutiny as the results of the Global Trust Bank. He has just lost his way into the cricketing annals as the worst test captain of all time with 22 losses, equaling the record of Allan Border. Even though Border had 22 negatives against his name, his record is for 93 tests as captain, and the win to loss ratio is not as bad as Lara's. (Lara has won a mere 10 tests to his 22 losses, a totally lopsided record!)

Elegance personified

Whenever one sees this batsman wield his bat, it is world class batting, and a treat to watch. He has the elegance and class that every left handed batsman is associated with, and he is in the elite gang of left handers known for their classy batting, such as David Gower, Sir Garfield Sobers.

His classy cover drive, the awesome power square cuts and the aggressive frame against the spinners… every single stroke from his willow is a spectator's delight. Imagine, his first test century was a Double Hundred (277) against those awesome Aussies at Sydney in 1992-93. Steadfast runs followed the first test hundred… soon he was a regular member of the test team.

Aye, Aye, Captain!

By 1998, the world had seen enough of Lara to proclaim him WI captain. His first test as captain was the Third test in the series at home against India at home, when his opposite captain was the most often compared to him, Sachin Tendulkar. Many chose that as the showdown between these two greats of the game! Lara got the upper hand of the series, where his team won the series in the infamous Bridgetown test where India went down chasing 120 to a paltry 81 all out!
Next series was against the English in England (his personal favourite opposition, he's got both HS records against ENG). WI won that series as well 3-1 (5 tests).

Next came the drubbing and the fall of this great cricketer. He took his team to SA where the Windies were totally whitewashed 5-0.

That for all the money in the world was the turning point in this fairytale cricketers career. He plundered runs at will, such as bandits feasting on the reserve bank… with the sheer arrogance and it was such a delight to watch!

He silently rode his form and had found what it takes to be a complete batsman… he did not take up captaincy until the crisis broke up in WI cricket, with Carl Hooper resigning and later retiring. Lara was captain again in the 2002-03 season against the mighty Aussies in their prime. WI lost heavily 4-1, followed it into the SL tour to the Caribbean. At last, a win under the belt.

Waterloo for this Great Cricketer as Captain!

Then afterwards, WI won just one test in the next dozen tests. Lara, however, conjured up runs in every game, not to forget that path breaking 400* in the test against England in the home of cricket itself. A cricketing delight, indeed!

Surely, one may have to concede that this may be yet the last series as WI Captain for this graceful cricketer, he has met his Waterloo, as far as Captaincy goes. His batting prowess though shall remain unconquered till the end of time!

Forever a statistician's favourite, Brian Lara, even though he has not been such a successful captain, will be forever in our hearts just because only he deserves to be there!