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All-time great batsmen - Brian Lara is Hank Aaron like
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Brian Lara
There was a time in the 1990s, when Sachin Tendulkar’s claim to being the best batsman in the world was offset by a certain Brian Charles Lara’s sheer volume of runs and the class with which he got them.
He once played an inning of 375 in a test match against England, which was the highest individual score in the history of international cricket.
He followed it up with an unbeaten 501 in a first class (domestic) game for Warwickshire against Durham.
If that was not enough, he had his highest individual score record stolen from him when Matthew Hayden smashed a 380 against Zimbabwe.
Lara reclaimed the same after becoming the first ever batsman in the history of test cricket to score 400, against his favorite opponents, England.
There was more to Lara than only his appetite for runs. In full flow, Lara oozed grace and class, almost unseen amongst most contemporary cricketers. His off-drive and pull were his bread and butter shots usually, but there weren’t too many that he couldn’t play and he entertained the fans world over throughout his 15 year long career.
Having said that, the Prince of Trinidad and Tobago was given to his mood swings and the West Indies cricket board had had to bear the brunt. Once in the late 1990s, a Brian Lara led West Indian team refused to embark on the tour to South Africa, complaining against the low pay. In the end, sense prevailed, the series went ahead as planned and the West Indians were slammed 5-0, the first time ever that had happened in a test series!
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