When
in the mood, Brian Lara was a genius, no less. Caribbean flair, and not any
textbook principles, was the hallmark of his batting. High backlift, braced
knees, a hop this way and that in the crease, flashing blade and terrific bat
speed, and deft wrist-work on either side of the wicket were characteristics of
his inimitable style. When he put his mind to it, he was amongst the very best
ever, in the traditional form perhaps next only to Bradman.
As
super success embraced him, Lara was quick to assume the airs of a megastar.
Petulance, brushes with authority and stormy personal life began to cast a
shadow over his career. For a long time it seemed that he might go the way of
so many hugely talented sportsmen like George Best who frittered away their
God-given gifts and ultimately destroyed themselves.
It
is said that the pressure of expectations got the better of Lara. To his
credit, he broke free of the stupor and applied his mind to his batting,
returning as one of the greatest rungetters the game has seen. The difference
between Lara and Tendulkar - hugely talented as both are in their unique ways -
was that Tendulkar remained grounded, a dedicated player, committed team man,
modest and content in the security of family life. He never allowed the
unprecedented adulation to swamp him, nor did the burden of having to perform
constantly stifle him. He sailed along, darling of millions, everyone’s very
own endearing Sachin. If he had a flaw, as we have already discussed, it was
that he would get carried away by his own brilliance and give his wicket away
when there were many, many more runs for the taking.
That
277 at Sydney in 1992-93, Lara’s first Test hundred, when the West Indies were
desperately defending their status as top dogs, was only advance notice of what
was to follow. Lara emulated Bradman by holding the records for the highest
scores in Tests as well as first-class cricket. Sir Garfield Sobers walked on
to the Antigua Recreation Ground to embrace Lara as the new hero went past his
Test record. In that 1993-94 series against England, Lara hit up 798 runs at an
average of 99.75.
The
world had still not stopped applauding Lara when he astounded everyone by
piling up an unbeaten 501 for Warwickshire versus Durham at Birmingham. It was
a new frontier - as a famous television series on space odysseys declared -
where no man had gone before. In a matter of days he did what no batsman, not
Grace nor Bradman, had done in 117 years. The English bowlers must have dreaded
the sight of his punishing blade as he carved out 765 runs in the six-Test
series on their soil in 1995 at an average of 85.
In
between, Lara had not relished the slower wickets of India during the 1994-95
series. Not long after, when the euphoria of having scaled great highs so early
in his career wore off, Lara began appearing listless and disinterested. It was
akin to the feeling of unease that Bradman experienced in 1932, but Lara’s
malaise was more severe. Bradman never allowed his performances to dip, Lara
could not defy his slump.
He
recovered, to the good fortune of cricket-lovers around the world. The first
sign of a turnaround came in 1998-99. That season his stock had slumped to
abysmal depths in South Africa as the West Indies were trounced 5-0 in the Test
series. Then they were beaten by Australia in the first Test at home. There
were shrill voices all around demanding that Lara be stripped of the captaincy.
And then he struck. He scored a superb 213 to lead the West Indies to victory
over Steve Waugh’s side at Kingston. In the very next Test at Bridgetown he
carried his team to an exhilarating one-wicket triumph with a stupendous
unbeaten 153. So gripping was the game that the Jamaican prime minister
postponed meetings to watch the finale. The West Indies actually led the series
2-1 now, and Lara was again being hailed as a superhero everywhere. This was
akin to Bradman’s stirring fightback in 1936-37, but not quite as decisive in
the end. The Australians eventually levelled the series, but Lara had once
again shown what he was really capable of.
The
big turnaround eventually came in 2001-02 in the Emerald Island after a
prolonged illness. He began with his 221 off the Sri Lankan bowling at Colombo
in that landmark season. In three Tests, Lara scored 668 runs at an average of
114.66 with 3 hundreds. Though he suffered a serious arm injury as a result of
a mid-pitch collision, he came back stronger than ever. Since that series, in
the last six years till his retirement from Test cricket in 2006-07, he scored
an average of a Test double century a year.
When
Sri Lanka made a return visit to the Caribbean islands the next season, Lara
slammed 209 at Gros Islet. After he regained the captaincy in 2003, and perhaps
consumed by a burning desire to finish his career in a blaze of glory, Lara was
unstoppable. He played two big knocks in the 2003-04 season. He first slammed
202 against South Africa at Johannesburg. During the course of that innings he
hit the highest number of runs in an over in Test cricket. He smashed Robin
Peterson for 4.6.6.4.4.4, a total of 28 runs.
Matthew
Hayden had taken away Lara’s Test record that season. The Prince of Trinidad,
though, was not ready to be dethroned. And so Hayden had the pleasure, and
privilege, of being Test cricket’s top-scorer for only a few months. Lara returned to the same venue and against
the very opponents of a decade earlier and reclaimed his coveted record. Again
he went to a territory no Test cricketer had treaded before, reaching 400
before he returned unconquered. He had emulated Bradman by hitting up two
scores of 300-plus in Test cricket. India’s Virender Sehwag joined the club at
Chennai in 2007-08. But while Bradman was never able to reset the Test record,
Lara, incredibly, got it back. That there was a gap of a decade between the two
high watermarks, makes his achievements even more laudable.
PROGRESSION OF RECORD INDIVIDUAL
SCORES
IN TEST CRICKET
IN TEST CRICKET
165* Charles Bannerman Aus v Eng 1876-77
211 Bill Murdoch Aus v Eng 1884
287 Reginald Foster Eng v Aus 1903-04
325 Andy Sandham Eng v WI 1929-30
334 Don Bradman Aus v Eng 1930
336* Wally Hammond Eng v NZ 1932-33
364 Len Hutton Eng v Aus 1938
365* Gary Sobers WI v Pak 1957-58
375 Brian Lara WI v Eng 1993-94
380 Matthew Hayden Aus v Zim 2003-04
400* Brian Lara WI v Eng 2003-04
Then
in Adelaide in 2005-06, as if to rub it into the Aussies, Lara overtook Allan
Border’s record Test aggregate, celebrating his achievement by bringing up
another double century, hitting up 226. In a final hurrah, Lara crashed 216
against Pakistan at Multan in 2006-07, his last season. He blazed to what was
the tenth-quickest hundred in Test cricket, off a mere 77 deliveries, blasting
26 runs - 4.0.6.6.6.4 - off a Danish Kaneria over. Lara has nine scores of 200
or more in Test cricket, second only to Bradman, who had twelve.
He
walked away from the Test arena with 11,953 runs in his kitty at an average of
52.88 with 34 centuries in 131 matches. He did many things that Bradman did not
manage - the Test record twice, 500 in first-class cricket, 400 in a Test
innings, and the highest aggregate. Was Lara better than Tendulkar? This
depends on which aspects of the game you cherish more. For nonchalantly
churning out huge scores, Lara was in the top bracket; for performing steadily
and mastering all types of bowling and conditions in both forms of the game,
Tendulkar has few peers.
PROGRESSION OF RECORD AGGREGATES
IN TEST CRICKET (above 1000 runs)
IN TEST CRICKET (above 1000 runs)
Runs Tests HS Ave 100s Year
A.
Shrewsbury (E) 1,277 23 164 35.47 3 1893
C.
Hill (A) 3,412 49 191 39.21 7 1912
J.B. Hobbs (E) 5,410 61 211 56.94 15 1930
W.R. Hammond (E) 7,249 85 336* 58.45 22 1947
M.C. Cowdrey (E) 7,624 114 182 44.06 22 1971-75
G.S. Sobers (WI) 8,032 93 365* 57.78 26 1974
G. Boycott (E) 8,114 108 246* 47.72 22 1982
S.M. Gavaskar (I) 10,122 125 236* 51.12 34 1987
A.R. Border (A) 11,174 156 205 50.56 27 1994
B.C. Lara (WI) 11,953 131 400* 52.88 34 2006
S.R. Tendulkar (I) 14,965 181 248* 56.25 51 2011
Lara
joined Tendulkar as the only batsmen then to score 10,000 runs in Tests as well
as One-day Internationals. Dravid, Ponting and Jacques Kallis joined the club
later. In 299 One-dayers Lara accumulated 10,405 runs at an average of 40.48
and strike-rate of 79.51, with 19 hundreds. In the World Cup he scored two
brilliant match-winning hundreds against South Africa, in the 1996
quarter-final, and the opening encounter in 2003. He has the third-highest
aggregate of 1225 runs in the showpiece event - behind Tendulkar and Ponting -
at an average of 42.24 and strike-rate of 86.26. The fastest fifty of the
competition stood to his name, off 23 balls against Canada at Centurion in 2003,
until bettered in 2007.
For
all his dazzling strokeplay, one often did not hear the thump of the ball
against Lara’s bat. That was the result of his inimitable wristwork. He would
guide the ball to untenanted areas of the field all round the wicket. What was
utterly fascinating was that he did this on the rise to the slow bowlers as
well, allowing the ball to turn, and then flicking it wherever he fancied. To
work away a quick bowler is easy. To have done it to a spinner - and on the
rise - is what made Lara extraordinary.
(Statistics
in Don’s Century are updated till 27th August 2011, the 103rd
birth anniversary of Sir Donald Bradman).
Author
Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted on email singh_iv@hotmail.com.
Indra
Vikram Singh’s latest books
published by Sporting Links:
published by Sporting Links:
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Maharaja’s Turf ISBN
978-81-901668-3-6
The
Big Book of World Cup Cricket ISBN
978-81-901668-4-3
Don’s
Century ISBN 978-81-901668-5-0
Crowning Glory ISBN 978-81-901668-6-7
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