Brian Lara or Sachin Tendulkar – the batsman of the decade?
Cricket has provided entertainment to its fans since its inception. It has brought great batsmen and bowlers to the spotlight. Players due to their outstanding skill and performances have found a place in the hall of fame. Players like Malcolm http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marshall-c74817, Steve Waugh, Viv Richards and Imran Khan have been crowned as legends. Out of the long list, two batsmen have been regarded as the best in the business; Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar.
Although they themselves never considered being rivals, their fans all over the globe constantly compare the two.
Throughout their lustrous careers, both these batsmen have played innings which are remembered by everyone. Brian Lara’s 400 and 375 against England are still talked about by the cricketing world. Sachin Tendulkar hasn’t failed to impress anyone with his bat and recently holds the record for the highest runs in ODI’s and Tests. Brian Lara has an average of 52.88 in Tests and 40.48 in ODI’s, while Sachin Tendulkar averages 56.02 in Tests and 45.12 in ODI’s. Tendulkar averages better than Brian Lara in Tests and ODI’s, but averages do not tell the entire story.
When comparing a batsmen’s match winning innings, the number of matches played also need to be taken into account. Experts and fans all around the world suggest Brian Lara has played more match winning innings than Sachin Tendulkar. Lara’s knock of 153 not out against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in 1999 is still considered to be his best. The resolution Lara showed, when he batted with Curtly Ambrose (not famous for his batting) was a miracle. Courtney Walsh still jokes about it.
“I brought home the match....with a little help from Lara”
One the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar has been able to produce some outstanding innings in his career. He is arguably one of the best batsmen ever, but when it comes to winning matches for his country, he falls behind Lara. One famous match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in 1999 can be recalled to support this point. Here, Tendulkar batted throughout the innings. After making 136 runs, he hit a skier, before he could secure his team a victory. Pakistan won that match by just 12 runs.
Despite all this, Tendulkar’s record cannot be ignored. Although he didn’t play as many match winning innings as he could have, he still played a major role in setting a first innings score for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. People only consider his second inning scores and tend to forget how many hundreds have helped India set a huge target.
There is very little to distinguish the two, when comparing the statistics. Both the batsmen for most of the career have carried the mantle for their teams. The team depended heavily on their performances. That is why by at the end of the 90’s, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 and India were struggling. When these two failed to deliver, the entire team collapsed.
Another way to compare the two is to hear from the former cricketers. Different players have different point of views.
Steve Waugh said, “You take Don Bradman away and he (Sachin) is next up, I reckon.”
While Muthiah Muralitharan went on to say “While both are difficult to bowl to, I think Lara plays me better than Tendulkar.”
So, who is the batsman of the decade; Lara or Tendulkar? Different aspects of the game point out various strengths and weaknesses of the two batsmen. While Lara is easier to be bowled out earlier in his innings, Sachin presents an opportunity later in his innings. Lara has known to be the better player of spin, while Sachin faces the faster bowlers to perfection. This debate has no end and it is not fair to state which batsman is superior to the other. Their legacy will leave a mark on cricket and be a topic for discussion for the years to come.
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