It is only befitting that my first article for WiwBee is on one of the most enigmatic, entertaining and the prodigious talent the cricketing world has ever seen- My favorite, Brian Charles Lara.
One cannot discuss modern day batting and especially West Indian cricket without the mention of this genius of a man called Lara. Having grown up seeing him bat and giving bowlers (spinners and fast bowlers alike)nightmares by spoiling the bowling figures of the best in the business, it is an honor to salute a man who with his unorthodox bating technique, changed the face of west Indian cricket.
Born on 2nd may 1969, Lara was the 10th of the 11 children in the family. He was introduced to cricket very early at the age of 6 and he never looked back ever since. After amassing runs by tons in the under-16 and under-19 tournaments, Lara finally arrived at the international scene and made his debut against Pakistan in 1990.Little did the world know then, that a true legend had arrived on the scene.
With years passing by, his true caliber came to the fore as he came to be known as the most destructive batsman in the world, brutally murdering attacks and entertaining crowds like never before. Like all great batsmen, he amassed runs all over the world and against the most dreaded attacks.
His batting style though unorthodox and non conforming to the coaching book style of batting, was the epitome of flair, flamboyance and brilliance. Right from the high backlift which gave his shots immense power to the exaggerated shuffle across the stumps, Lara was a genius in every stroke.
Lara when in full form was akin to a rockstar who only got wild as the cheers got louder from the crowd.
A big match player, Lara always rose to the occasion every time the situation and his country needed him. His famous “Nataraja” shot where he picked up the length of the ball early and pulled it effortlessly, the on the rise cover drive, and the way he danced down the pitch to make some room for hitting the cleanest of sixes without any fuss were Cricketing world’s some of the most exhilarating sights . What was all too endearing was the effortlessness in his batting courtesy the excellent hand eye coordination which made his batting all the more special.
Brain Charles Lara was a true match winner and a true team man, who shouldered the responsibility of leading the west Indian cricket for over a decade and stood by it during its worst years. One such instance which I can recall would be the West Indies tour of Srilanka where it appeared as if he was making up for all the bad form in his career and milking the SriLankan bowlers to end the three match series with a unbelievable average of 114, amassing as many as 688 runs. West Indies still lost the series 0-3. Such was the domination of the man and such was the responsibility he shouldered to save his slightly above average team from shame.
What seemed to be the most charismatic facet of his personality was that he appeared as a no nonsense guy who took things seriously, just going about his job with the calm and coolness of a master craftsman at work. At a time when most of the batsmen were trying to dig deep to find the reason to be getting out to a particular bowler to try and change their technique, Lara remained unflustered. No wonder that once when he was asked as to why he so often gets out to McGrath, his response was “I have to get out to someone, if its Mcgrath, so be it”. May be it was just the no nonsense Caribbean attitude. Perhaps it was this attitude which never let him change his game throughout his career. Perhaps it was this attitude which made him play the aggressive cricket that he always did irrespective of the situation of the match.
He is without a doubt the undisputed king of batting with a World record of a 400 hundered to his name. Also he is the only batsman to have regained the world record for highest Individual score in an innings after being toppled over by Mathew Hayden.
Many would argue that he had a couple of years still left in him, a couple of years more of entertainment but he had to retire someday and he did. It perhaps was a decision that was more forced on him. It was a decision which saddened many cricket lovers, including me, for he did not receive a farewell that a true champion deserved. But he nevertheless left a legacy which will live on in our hearts forever and entered himself into the annals of history as the greatest batsman of all time.
