Brain Lara - What players of yesterday are remembered for today
The world of cricket has been graced by some truly gifted players, who wove their magic and had the fans in awe of their abilities with a bat and ball. As is the case with all good things their time in the spot-light has to come to an end, leaving everyone
with only memories and the after-thoughts of what had been.
While a tad bit on the dramatic side, the opening does not begin to do justice to the players who had an entire generation enthralled in the game of cricket.
Former Australian captain Ricky Pointing, India’s living legend Sachin Tendulkar, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 are not among those mentioned because they are players still plying their trade and are not players of ‘yesterday’ as yet.
Having cleared that up one can move on to getting that feeling of nostalgia when one thinks of the West Indies’ legendary batsman Brain Charles Lara.
Born on May 2, 1969, Lara would go on to define the term ‘the complete batsman’. 14 years later he would go on to score an amazing 745 runs that raised a few eyebrows and was rewarded with a place in the Under-16 side.
Add another six years to that and Brian Lara had worked his way to the captaincy of the Trinidad and Tobago side, guiding them to a brilliant victory in the Geddes http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Grant-c60671 Shield.
Making his debut in a One Day International against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 on November 9, 1990 the batsman would go on to play 131 Test matches and 299 ODIs. The signs had been bright from the start as his first ever innings for the national side fell just six runs short
of a half century and his name became an overnight household topic.
With an astounding average of 40.48 runs in ODIs and a highest personal best of 169 runs, Brian Lara was the best batsman the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 had amongst their ranks. His elegance and distinct style of batting made many consider him as one of the best batsman
of all time.
Yet it was in Test cricket where Lara truly excelled. He broke Sir Donald Bradman’s record by scoring 375 runs in 1994, before scoring a brilliant 501 runs in a single innings in a first class match that added to his already formidable reputation.
In the final few years of his career, Lara would go on to prove just what a gift he was for the game of cricket as he went on to score 400 runs against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 in Antigua, beating his own personal and world record.
Till this day that record stands, and very few have been able to come anywhere near it. However, off field issues took its toll on the player and he retired from all forms of the game just one match short of having played 300 ODIs for his side.
The game bid farewell to one of its favourite sons but the main distinction about Brian Lara is that whenever his name is heard, every cricket fan is almost always transported to the 400 run innings that still stands as a record till this day and something
that every single batsman of the game today aims to emulate.
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