A real tough exercise!!

Recently Cricinfo came out with a really interesting yet extraordinarily difficult idea of selecting the greatest eleven players from the glittering test cricket history of each team. It kindled my imagination immediately and I wasn't going to sit still for s single minute without trying to select my own team and compare it with friends. I entered into detailed discussions and made use of all the stats and history of each country and player and eventually made a selection. I am putting up my teams (Australia, England, West Indies, India and Pakistan) in batting order. I am not providing any explanations for the selection (wait for a later post). Only a rather strange selection will carry some kind of reasoning.

It would be great if you guys can flip through the record books and rummage through the stats and come up with your own classic eleven for each team. It would make for an extremely interesting time comparing the lineups we come up with. I should believe I wont be off the final panel's decision by more than 2/3 names!!.

Index--> * ->Captain + -> Wicket Keeper


Australia

Matthew Hayden
Bob Simpson
Don Bradman(*) (:D)--as if there was a doubt..lol
Ricky Ponting
Greg Chappell
Neil Harvey
Adam Gilchrist(+)
Alan Davidson/Keith Miller(prefer Davidson because he adds variety with left arm)
Shane Warne (guess no arguments here)
Dennis Lillee
Glenn Mcgrath


England

Len Hutton(went for Hutton over Sutcliffe--dont ask why!)
Jack Hobbs
Walter Hammond(*)
Dennis Compton
David Gower
Ken Barrington
Ian Botham
Alan Knott(+)
Jim Laker
Harold Larwood
Syd Barnes------pretty old but the record does speak for itself


West Indies

Gordon Greenidge
Clyde Walcott/George Headley
Viv Richards
Brian Lara
Frank Worrell(*)
Garry Sobers-----------absolute no brainer :D
Jeff Dujon(+)
Malcolm Marshall
Lance Gibbs
Michael Holding/Wes Hall
Curtly Ambrose


India

Sunil Gavaskar
Virender Sehwag (guess he has done enough to get there)
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Gundappa Viswanath
Vijay Hazare/Dilip Vengsarkar
Kapil Dev
Syed Kirmani (+)
Anil Kumble (*)-->guess he would have made a very fine captain
Bishen Singh Bedi
Erapalli Prasanna/Javagal Srinath (depending on the wicket i suppose!!)


Pakistan

Hanif Mohammad
Saeed Anwar
Zaheer Abbas
Javed Miandad
Inzamam Ul haq/ Mohd Yousuf
Imran Khan (*)
Wasim Akram
Wasim Bari (+)
Abdul Qadir
Waqar Younis
Fazal Mahmood-----------thought his record was stupendous


Its quite hard coming up with the teams for SA, NZ and Sri Lanka due to different reasons. Will try to do so shortly.

Till then happy selecting!!

IPL is pretty sad except for ................Warnie!

I have never been a big T-20 fan let alone the razzmatazz that is the IPL. There is too much glitz and glamour associated with it and almost every aspect of it being commercialized doesn't seem to appeal to me. I might be branded a traditionalist and someone who is refusing to accept the changing times but I'd rather be one..I sure hope that all this tinkering with the game is restricted to this abbreviated form..

A plethora of ads and sponsors, ever increasing presence of Bollywood stars and a most puerile effort on to select the next 'pretty lass' from the crowds for Bollywood seems to add to the already crazy drama and hype that surround this tournament. Frankly to me it is just a sure shot way to rake in the moolah whilst sacrificing quality. The commentary is fairly crass with innumerable sponsor names being mentioned in almost every line for example a 'citi' moment of success and 'DLF' maximum. Adding to it is an almost artificial effort being made by commentators to try and shout louder every ball in order to 'enthrall' the viewers..sadly for all the extradorinary hype and burgeoning flow of cash this tournament in particular and T-20 in general generates, it fails to achieve one thing- leaving behind memories of matches and individual performances like what test matches do..

But the IPL does bring with all this a few positives and the most glorious among them is the joy of watching some legends and superstars of the game we have so come to love perform together in the same teams and also face off..Warne vs Tendulkar will probably never evoke the same charm as it did in a test match but there is still the opportunity to watch these fantastic players perform in the game that is supposedly designed for the young...

The first day of the IPL featured some of the greatest names to have graced the game in the peerless Sachin Tendulkar, the wizard Shane Warne who incidentally showcased his exceptional leadership skill in the first edition by taking a bunch of no hopers in Rajasthan all the way to the title, Matthew Hayden- the huge Aussie opening legend and many more superstars. The day had it all - some great bowling and dazzling fielding, excellent batting by Tendulkar and oh yeah a dog entering the field and refusing to leave..perhaps it didn't like the IPL and the format too much...!



The one reason I am even thinking about writing about this tournament is because I was utterly mesmerized, bewitched, stunned and captivated and what not by watching Shane Warne unfurl his bag of tricks against Bangalore. It is nothing new and I have watched the blond genius make a fool and confound many a great batsman- Mike Gatting, Graham Gooch, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Strauss to name a few..Warne bowling has without a shadow of doubt been the best thing to happen to the game in a long time..The very air of drama, sense of anticipation and the extraordinary theatre that surround the man who is surely larger than the game is quite unbelievable. Whether he gets a wicket, goes for a boundary, appeals or even marks his run up this man has the ability to capture the imagination of the viewers. T-20 may not quite be the arena for the great champion that he is but it was just fascinating to watch the wily spinner showcase why he is right up there...Reviving the dying art of leg spin and almost single handedly making it a great joy to watch, Warnie has ruled numerous cricketing hearts like mine for years. All the controversies, personal problems, rifts and the bad boy image only seem to add to the enduring image of a genius who is all too human. Thank GOD for Shane Warne...test cricket is definitely a lot poorer without a player like him but atleast we have the IPL to watch the man bowl which I believe to be the greatest sight on a cricket field!

AND YEAH the best moment in my life has been being able to meet the man face to face at the Taj West End in Bangalore on OCT 10 2004...WOW!!!

PS: Always wanted to write a piece on Warne..article by Sambit Bal in cricinfo proved to be the inspiration to do so..!

The Invincible eleven

Most cricket lovers have without doubt indulged in the task of picking an all time great team at some point of time. This is often a thankless task given that when the decision is made, more often than not, there are bound to be debates and arguments aplenty not to mention the brickbats one gets on certain omissions and inclusions. Yet, the best part about this whole exercise is that one gets the opportunity to look back at the game’s history in detail and understand the various factors that would go into selecting the team. At the outset, I shall try and outline the criteria that I am using to help me make the selection. Firstly, this is solely based on performances in test cricket and does not include any ODI and more recently T-20 achievements. Also, various other factors such as playing conditions, quality of opposition and impact of performances, consistency are taken into consideration. The team selection starts from the openers all the way to the bowlers and at each step, all the candidates are analyzed before a conclusion is reaches thus leaving little room for confusion and debates. I shall include all the necessary stats as well to help others figure out their best possible team. I certainly don’t expect even half the readers to agree on many choices let alone the team, but the very idea of selecting an all time great team is thrilling enough and I can’t wait to embark on the quest.

Test cricket has produced many fantastic openers in the last hundred odd years. Right from the time of W.G Grace through the great pre war pairing of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe, the legendary Len Hutton, the excellent and consistent Aussie opening pair Bob Simpson and Bill Lawry, the technically perfect Boycott and Gavaskar, the dashing Caribbean duo Greenidge and Haynes and more recently the Aussies Hayden and Langer. Hobbs and Sutcliffe formed a fantastic opening pair for England who in just 38 tests had over 15 century stands and averaged over 87 which is unlikely to be matched. Len Hutton was an exceptional batsman who maintained a consistently high average until the end. Lawry and Simpson formed a very consistent pairing for Australia in the 1960’s, both averaging in the high 40’s. Geoffrey Boycott often seemed hard to dislodge and was a great accumulator of runs. Sunil Gavaskar made his debut in 1971 in the West Indies scoring a record 774 runs and never looked back. He averaged over 50 and was the shining light in the otherwise inconsistent Indian outfit. His feats are all the more remarkable as he conjured up 13 hundreds against the formidable West Indians who ere in their pomp in the mid 70’s through the 80’s. Greenidge and Haynes averaged nearly 50 together and amassed more than 6000 runs. Greenidge was the more aggressive, trying to dismantle attacks and Haynes the steady rock building the platform for the great middle order. More recently, Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer have proven to be the best opening pair averaging over 50 and putting attacks to the sword all round the world. Matthew Hayden has scored 30 centuries and for the best part of 6 years starting 2000, he was the most consistent batsman in the world. The choice of openers for my team would be Sunil Gavaskar and Gordon Greenidge simply because Greenidge consistently terrorized all bowling attacks the world over and could attack from the word go and Sunil Gavaskar at the other end would have been the ideal foil given his exemplary technique and powers of concentration. In this case, selecting a pair has not been easy and it is more a sense of logical thinking that has gone into the choice.





The number three batsman is more often than not the best batsman in the side as his role is extremely crucial. He has to continue the attack which has been initiated by the openers and not let the tempo slip away and also in the event of an early wicket has to ensure that stability is restored quickly and that momentum is not lost. The choice of the all time great number three batsman is fairly unanimous and easy- Sir Don Bradman of Australia who in just 52 tests scored 6996 runs at an astounding average of 99.94 and made an even more unbelievable 29 tons. The very fact that the notorious leg theory or ‘Bodyline’ as it is more popularly known as was used just to curtail his run scoring spree is a clear indicator of his batting prowess. An argument that is often raised is that Bradman made all his runs only in England and Australia and never ever played elsewhere. It would be sheer stupidity to imagine that a batsman of his class and caliber would not have thrived on other surfaces. Also, a point to be noted is that Bradman lost six years of cricket during the Second World War when he was at the height of his abilities. A great batsman who misses out is Rahul Dravid of India who has for years held the bar of consistency so high and scored runs for his team on virtually all surfaces. Ricky Ponting of Australia who was touted as the next best after Bradman has been the most consistent batsman of the decade and has amassed runs aplenty. He is most likely to be the highest run getter in tests very soon and is without doubt a modern great.



An exceptional middle order is quintessential to a great team and selecting the players is definitely not an easy task as hundreds of great players are to be considered. I shall do my best to briefly mention the strongest candidates and outline the criteria for their selection/omission. Sir Vivian Richards would have made any team’s number 3 slot but for the presence of Don Bradman. Richards’s swagger and calm demeanor combined with a fantastic eye and unmatched aggression made the best of bowlers lose sleep. He played his cricket in the most entertaining manner and was captivating to watch. Also, he had the sheer numbers to back it up- 8500 runs at an average over 50 with 24 centuries. Yet I always felt that with Richards, it is more his intimidating presence and dominating personality that catapults him to the number 4 spot ahead of most other greats. Other players considered include the great Walter Hammond of England who ended his career as the then highest run getter in cricket amassing over 7000 runs at an exceptional average of 58, the classy Greg Chappell of Australia, the street fighter from Pakistan Javed Miandad.

At number five, I decided to go with the tremendously gifted Brian Lara of the West Indies. This may raise a few eye brows for two reasons. One, Lara batted at either 3 or 4 most times and also there is peerless Sachin Tendulkar, holder of records for most runs and centuries. The reasons why I have gone for Brian Lara ahead of Tendulkar, Lara in his pomp was the much more exciting to watch and there was never a moment when he took a backward step. He made monumental scores including the most number of 200 plus scores after Bradman and also the most scores over 150 in the history of the game. Also his exceptional handling of the two legends of spin bowling- Shane Warne and Muralitharan truly underlines his greatness. Tendulkar on the other hand is the more consistent and the more reliable, but on a slightly more partisan note, I have gone for Lara simply because he has been the first player who truly made me love and enjoy watching test cricket.





A great all rounder is a key to the team’s success as more often than not in test victories, stellar roles have been played by gifted all-rounders. Some of the great names that crop up are Keith Miller of Australia, who was an integral part of Bradman’s ‘Invincibles’, the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers of the West Indies. The 70’s and 80’s saw four of the best all rounders to grace the game in Imran Khan of Pakistan, Sir Ian Botham of England, Sir Richard Hadlee of New Zealand and Kapil Dev of India. More recently Wasim Akram and Jacques Kallis have made the headlines on a number of occasions. Again, as with the number 3 position, the choice of the best all rounder is very easy though not exactly a no brainer. Sir Garry Sobers is without doubt the finest all rounder to step into a pair of cricket shoes. He is the ultimate all rounder in every sense of the term. A batsman par genius who scored more than 800 runs at almost 58, a bowler who could bowl absolutely anything from fat bowling through off spin and also chinamen. He picked up 235 wickets and also held 109 catches and was widely regarded as the best all round fielder. Imran Khan, Ian Botham , Hadlee and Kapil Dev were exceptional bowlers and brilliant batsmen too but were far less consistent with the bat and with the team having some great bowlers, it would be more appropriate to have a batting all rounder who can bowl a fair bit.



A look back at the annals of test cricket brings up names of some of the finest men to don the wicket keeping gloves. Bert Oldfield and Wally Grout of Australia, England’s Alan Knott and Bob Taylor, India’s Syed Kirmani and Pakistan’s Wasim Bari, Jeff Dujon of the West Indies who stood almost throughput the golden period of West Indian cricket and the best Aussies keepers in Rodney Marsh, Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist and the plucky South African Mark Boucher. Almost all these players have been brilliant and extremely consistent all through their careers and held various records at different points of time. But the one man who totally redefined the role of the wicket keeper with his exceptional batting abilities and great skills as a keeper was Adam Gilchrist. He strode out at number 7 and any hopes the opposition had of snapping up the remaining wickets soon turned into a position when the teams were forced to start being defensive in the wake of his extraordinary counter attack. He was capable enough to be included in the team purely as a batsman and averaged over 47 scoring the runs at a quite incredible strike rate of 82. He scored many a crucial knock and was instrumental in boosting the confidence of the all conquering Australian units of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. Many wicket keepers were more skilled and natural than Gilchrist but he takes the spot for his keeping skills combined with the fantastic hitting ability.



Selecting the bowlers is also an extremely arduous task which I have tried simplifying slightly by restricting the selection only from the list of bowlers who have taken a minimum of 300 wickets and have played at least 50 tests. This takes out quite a few greats like Sid Barnes, Clarrie Grimmett, Wes Hall, Ray Lindwall and also some of the West Indian greats such as Michael Holding and Joel Garner who were quite unplayable in their peak. A balanced bowling attack includes 3 fast bowlers and a spinner and I have decided to base the selection on these lines. The names that come into play for selection as fast bowlers include the most successful of all- Glenn McGrath, the most consistent and quick Malcolm Marshall, the aggressive Dennis Lillee, the master of swing and cut Richard Hadlee, the bowling all rounders Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev, the miserly yet deadly Curtly Ambrose , the great Pakistani duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, ‘White lightning’ Allan Donald and the legendary Fred Trueman of England. Malcolm Marshall is the first to slide into the team given his exceptional average of just over 20 and remarkable ability to out bowl some of the finest fast bowlers in his time and team. Glenn McGrath gets the nod for his unparalleled accuracy and uncanny ability to pick up the wickets of the best batsmen in the team. Though there is the temptation to select Wasim Akram who is arguably the finest left arm bowler ever, I have decided to go with Lillee for two reasons- he was the more consistent fast bowler and the presence of a certain Sobers in the team makes another left armer redundant.







Spin bowling is an art that makes cricket viewing most enjoyable and some greats who have mastered the art include leg spinning legends such as Clarrie Grimmett, Bill O’ Reilly, Richie Benaud and the incomparable Shane Warne. Off spin boasts of a rich heritage too including Lance Gibbs, the Indian trio of Prasanna, Bedi and Venkatraghavan and the Sri Lankan wizard Muralitharan who is right up the tree of wicket takers in the game. Shane Warne and Muralitharan are the two who make the short list for selection. As in the earlier case with Tendulkar and Lara, Muralitharan is very much the more consistent and also has more wickets and more five and ten wicket hauls, but Warne was the more captivating to watch. He engrossed cricket watchers the world over and revived the almost dead art of leg spin. He was definitely the more aggressive and cast a doubt over opposition batsmen like no other spinner has. Again there may be a touch of partiality here, but I pick Shane Warne for his sheer presence and larger than life image that he brought to the cricket field not to mention his tremendous leg spinning abilities.



Ultimately I pick Don Bradman to lead the team not just because of his towering achievements but also for his fine leadership when he captained the ‘Invincibles’ in the post war years.

It has been a thoroughly enjoyable time grinding through records and cricket details of the past decades in order to select an all time great team. I do not believe that people should concur with my list or criteria but am sure that everyone who loves the game will undoubtedly agree that Test cricket has been ever so remarkable in producing greats who have lit up the game and have with their extraordinary achievements and performances, made the five day game such a pleasure to watch and read about.

The 'ultimate' eleven in batting order is listed below:

1. Gordon Greenidge
2. Sunil Gavaskar
3. Donald Bradman
4. Vivian Richards
5. Brian Lara
6. Garfield Sobers
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Shane Warne
9. Malcolm Marshall
10. Dennis Lillee
11. Glenn Mcgrath

Why the five day game rules (me)!!

Why the five day game rules (me)!!

Very few events in ones life tend to influence them to the extent that their presence is sine qua non. Family, friends and a few episodes do occupy a special place in my heart, but I for one would go as far as elevating test match cricket to the same pedestal. Absurd though this may sound, this version of my favorite game has been the most alluring and captivating feature of the last 10-12 years and undoubtedly will be for years to come. It has quite easily kept me glued to the television screen when on air, to the newspapers for a thorough read and made me yearn for books galore to learn more. In the era of T-20 cricket when even the fifty over game seems painfully slow to most so called cricket fans, an ardent lover of the five day game (read ‘I’) have been branded an anachronism. Clichéd though it might be, the statement ‘old is gold’ is a very accurate one in this context. Its time I actually start reflecting on the reasons behind the greatness of test cricket and more specifically why I have been so drawn to it.

Among my group of friends, almost all of who are cricket fanatics, I am pretty much regarded a freak when it comes to cricket and its statistics. I have tried to recall when this sudden interest stemmed in me and have found it all too difficult to pinpoint the time from when I became cricket crazy. Test match cricket has been around for decades, 131 years to be precise. Unbelievably gifted players and fantastic teams have graced the arena over the years and surreal performances fill the memory. But one might justifiably ask- what is the difference between this game and the others? Nearly every game has its own elite set of heroes over the years and produces unforgettable moments. Test cricket though stands out in its ability to still thrill and enchant viewers like no other sport whilst retaining almost all its originality.

Typically, a test match spans five days and though this duration might seem a crazy idea to most sport lovers, it’s this very aspect of the game that helps in stand out. Three sessions constitute a day’s play and the start and end of each of them fills one with anticipation. Though moments of brilliance can and do often make the difference, more often than not it is continued consistency and endurance that separate the winning and losing teams. For a spectator and viewer, this is compelling watching. Not for a minute can a player afford to relax or drop guard as he knows all too well that the session and hence the game may hinge on that moment. The batsmen’s technique and bowlers’ skills are thoroughly examined and tremendous application, patience and focus is paramount for success in test cricket.

Test cricket has continued to enthrall players and viewers alike because of its purity. The game has managed to retain its pristine nature despite changes galore all round it. Statistics, controversies, records, memorable performances, amazing on field displays not to mention exceptional radio and television commentary and coverage of the game have all added gloss to the evergreen game. A number of fantastic books have been written by great cricket aficionados further enhancing its beauty.

Well, much as I do try to avoid for fear of fewer readers, no piece on test cricket can do justice to it if it is bereft of the history or statistics. So I shall try and provide a very brief summary of the game so far which also encompasses the reasons why the game stands tall in the pantheon of sports. Originally contested only between England and Australia, their rivalry came to be known as the ‘Ashes’ and their clashes don’t fail to woo the cricket viewer to this date. Other countries including India, South Africa, the West Indies also entered the fray, albeit a few decades later. The greatest player in the pre war period was Sir Donald Bradman of Australia who averaged a stupendous yet unreal 99.94 and is surely the greatest batsman statistically as long as the game survives. Also other exceptionally great players included the man who has the highest number of first class hundreds to date-Sir Jack Hobbs(Eng), the great run machine and fielder par excellence Walter Hammond(Eng) and two of the most consistent and brilliant bowlers to have played the game in Sid Barnes(Eng) and Clarrie Grimmett(Aus). The most controversial and ill tempered cricket contest before the world war was the infamous Bodyline series between Australia and England in 1932-33 when the English captain, in an attempt to stop the deluge of runs from Bradman embarked on what is known as the leg theory of bowling. This series has been all too well documented in books and also had a mini television series made. Reading about the bodyline series and getting a better picture of the situation then was a great boost to my ever increasing love for the game.

The post war period has had some of the best players, trendsetters, and fascinating contests ever witnessed. The West Indies rose to power slowly through the 1950’s and by the mid 1970’s after a few hiccups midway, they were well and truly the greatest team in the world. They revolutionized the game and had a galaxy of star batsman and virtually an assembly line of quality fast bowlers. They debunked the theory that a team needed spinners to perform well and their fast bowlers put fear in the mind of opposition batsmen for almost three decades. Some of the Caribbean greats include Sir Garfield Sobers, who has almost unanimously been chosen the greatest al rounder to have stepped on a cricket field, the 3 W’s (Worrell, Walcott, Weekes), Clive Lloyd- who captained a champion west Indian team which lorded the cricket world more than a decade, Sir Vivian Richards, inarguably the most exciting and destructive batsman to have played the game. They also had fast bowlers such as Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, and Andy Roberts who terrorized batsmen the world over. West Indian cricket had in its culture a sense of gay abandon and a different kind of love for the game which readily made it the most loved cricket team all around. They transformed the way cricket was played and test cricket is without doubt indebted to them for this immeasurable contribution of theirs. Australia have been the most consistent team through all the years and since the mid 90’s regained the crown of champions from the declining west Indian outfit which has been in the doldrums ever since much to the chagrin of almost every cricket lover.

Wonderful commentators including John Arlott, Brian Johnston, Richie Benaud and many more have made cricket viewing on television a pleasure. Watching a test match being played down under early morning in India was a pleasure beyond comparison and I haven’t experienced a single event that matches that feeling. Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, and Shane Warne shone bright and captured the minds of the cricket fan. I have been privileged to have been in an era when test match cricket has been at its glorious best and even more blessed to have been able to watch videos and read about the era gone by which undoubtedly set the tone for all the great stuff that followed.

I could as well go on and on writing about test cricket, professing my love for the game and glorifying it no end. But I would rather conclude thus if ever there is a thing called rebirth, I pray that I be reborn as a test cricketer.

Tribute to a genius

‘A stroke of genius’- A phrase that perfectly describes the charismatic Brian Lara who in 15 years has effortlessly set and reset records galore while keeping the cricket lovers spellbound by taking the art of batsmanship to dizzy heights.

Brian Lara was always destined to be a great batsman even before he was picked for the test series against Pakistan in 1991. He had scored heavily in the domestic competition and his talent was spotted by the great Michael Holding who remarked that Lara must be picked first and then the remaining 10 players.

Living up to the enormous hype and huge expectations of the fans was never going to be an easy task even for a short period of time, let alone for more than a decade, but the Prince from Trinidad has done all this and more in a manner others can only dream of.

Hailing from the W.I, Lara had the huge burden of constantly being compared with his illustrious peers which included the incomparable Sir Garry Sobers and perhaps the most destructive batsman to have played the game in Viv Richards whom he actually replaced after the former retired. Like Sir Garry Sobers, Lara took some time to score his first century, but when it finally came in his 6^th test, it was an unforgettable knock drawing comparisons with Sobers’s brilliant 365 against Pakistan.

West Indies were playing Australia in what was regarded as the unofficial World Test Championship. The W.I team was still a good team but the juggernaut image seemed a thing of the past. Australia, under Border had taken a 1-0 lead going into the Sydney test and with 3 matches to go it was going to be an uphill task for the tourists. The difficulties were compounded further when the Aussies amassed 503 in their 1^st innings. In reply the W.I were tottering after the loss of a couple of early wickets and with the wicket aiding turn, facing Shane Warne wasn’t going to be easy. Lara, with Richie Richardson for company proceeded to score a stupendous 277 showcasing his entire repertoire of strokes. He was finally run out which seemed to be the only way he could have been dismissed, but not before the W.I scored 606 and earned a creditable draw. They went on to win the series including the triumph at Adelaide in a thriller with Lara making a crucial contribution. This was only a sample of the things to follow.

The summer of 1994 was marked by England’s visit to the Caribbean. Lara at his sumptuous best treated the England bowling with disdain and in the final test at Antigua, he scored a world record score of 375 out of a team score of 591 in the process surpassing the legendary Sobers. The innings was chanceless and was characterised by delicate late cuts, scorching drives, rasping cut shots and murderous pulls including one to claim the record.

If one thought this was the pinnacle of his career and that these achievements couldn’t be bettered, they were proved completely wrong. In a glittering first class season for Warwickshire he proceeded to score 7 centuries in 8 innings in an almost Bradmanesque fashion. This fascinating run culminated in a mammoth 501 n.o against an unfortunate Durham side thus resulting in him becoming the highest individual scorer in first class innings going past Hanif Mohammed’s 499.

Lara was magnificent during 1995 especially against England for whom he always reserved special treatment. He scored 3 centuries in the series thus firmly establishing him as the greatest batsman playing then. His career had till then been a near perfect one but then the excessive adulation of fans, overbearing expectations and pressure got to him and lead to a loss of form which resulted in the W.I relinquishing the Frank Worrell trophy to the Aussies under Mark Taylor. This was the beginning of the end of West Indian domination and this was clearly very disappointing to him.

Lara was equally brilliant in the shorter version of the game and had the unique ability to come up with crucial knocks like the one in the finals against Pakistan in Sharjah and none more vital than the century in the 1996 world cup quarter finals against South Africa. This was one of the most brilliant comebacks as earlier in the tournament West Indian cricket had reached its nadir in their shocking defeat at the hands of lowly Kenya. The team had to incur the wrath of its supporters and the harsh criticism of former players. Lara decided to respond in style and though he began shakily taking about 22 balls to get his first boundary, he was soon in his elements taking apart the famed S.A attack and went on to score a brilliant 111 leading his team to victory. This innings was full of strokes characterised by his customary flair and unmatched elegance.

'There is no genius where there is no flaw'- This adage seemed to be the very description of Lara’s career. He astonished everyone with his magical batting one day and then suddenly he seemed completely unconcerned and aloof. He was going through a trough in his personal form and the team which almost solely depended on his batting was in the doldrums. He decided that he should take a break which would be beneficial to him and the team and thus went through a 4 month self imposed exile. He then returned from his layoff and continued to score runs consistently but the team’s fortunes plummeted continually.

It was the 1998-99 season and Steve Waugh’s rampant Aussie team visited the Caribbean supremely confident that they could retain the Frank Worrell trophy without breaking a sweat as they were up against one of the weakest West Indian teams. The series began at Lara’s hometown in Port of Spain. The hosts were skittled out for 51 and lost by a massive margin of over 350 runs. The entire team and especially Lara were subjected to all kinds of criticism and the morale was at an all time low.

What followed was almost beyond belief. Lara decided to take the Aussies on all by himself and proceeded to score a fantastic 213 at Kingston and the W.I leveled the series at 1-1. The series moved to Barbados and after an evenly contested 3-4 days, W.I were set an arduous task of scoring 309 against the quality Aussie attack. They were staring down the barrel at 105/5 when Jimmy Adams joined Lara. Lara unleashed all his trademark classical strokes and combining them with his twinkling footwork kept the W.I in the hunt. But as was the case with the brittle W.I middle order often, they collapsed to 240/8 leaving Lara only the tailenders in Ambrose and Walsh for company, not exactly an inspiring situation.

The Aussies felt they had the match in the bag. But Lara had other ideas and in a thrill a minute partnership with Ambrose with the latter stoically holding ground he added a vital 50 odd runs when suddenly Ambrose was dismissed. Courtney Walsh walked in and almost all hope was lost as he had to face Gillespie who was bowling beautifully. But in one of the most hilarious yet effective efforts, he managed to stave off the bowling of Gillespie and Glenn Mcgrath. Lara meanwhile hammered a couple of boundaries and finally with a scorching drive off Gillespie, finished on 153 n.o and managed to pull off an improbable win. The cricketing world rose in unison to applaud the left handed maestro’s Herculean efforts in single handedly restoring his team’s dwindling fortunes and salvaging the pride of a rich cricket tradition.

Lara was not yet finished in the series. In Antigua, he raced to a quite breathtaking 100 off 84 balls caning the famed Aussie bowling though Australia managed to square the series. These awe-inspiring performances of Lara were rightly given due recognition by Wisden and the 153 was voted the 2^nd best innings of all time.

As was the case with his career so often a high was followed by a grey patch. He had a run of poor scores and the team was hammered 5-0 by Australia and S.A. He decided to take moral responsibility for the debacle and resigned as captain.

In 2001, W.I visited Sri Lanka and were drubbed 3-0. But this in no way reflected Lara’s superhuman effort in the series. He single handedly took on the Lankan attack which included the off spin wizard Muralitharan and amassed a monumental 688 runs in 3 tests including 3 hundreds and a 200. He alone accounted for 42% of the team’s runs and this clearly showed that Lara was truly the best and this was testified by Murali.

A relatively ordinary couple of years followed though he did make some sizable scores during the period. In 2004 against England at Antigua, he waded into the attack and scored a mind boggling 400 in a single innings overtaking Matthew Hayden’s 380 to reclaim the world record exactly 10 years after he had scored the 375 at the same venue. He had a fantastic series against S.A and Pakistan making 4 hundreds in the process. He also has 5 hundreds in 2005 which has firmly placed him in the pantheon of all time greats. Recently in the 3^rd test against Australia, he scored a magnificent 226 and went past Allan Border as the highest run getter in the history of the game which was just another record in his glittering career. He later modestly said that it was a reward for his long service he had rendered to W.I cricket.

Inevitably any game always involves comparisons with contemporary stars and past greats and cricket is certainly no exception. Lara may not have the remarkable consistency of Don Bradman , the natural gifts that Sobers possessed or the swagger and presence of Viv Richards. He may not have the fan following nor the temperament of Sachin Tendulkar or the dogged determination of Steve Waugh, but he is blessed with a remarkable eye and quicksilver footwork which when combined with his gift of timing and his appetite for huge scores makes him one of the most exciting batsmen to have played the game. He has the ability to set the pulse racing the moment he steps in to bat and the sense of anticipation never ceases. He is not a batsman from whom one can expect anything beforehand but one whose magical skills are at the command of his mind and his mood. When he is in the right frame of mind and has the mood, he conjures up performances way beyond even the imagination of other players. There is no better batsman to watch in cricket when he is on song and he can certainly be regarded as one of the best to have played.

There may be numerous flaws in him like his carefree attitude, questionable temperament and mood swings but as is the case with most geniuses, these flaws are completely overshadowed by his extraordinary talent, insatiable thirst for runs, his divine footwork and sublime stroke play.

Brian Charles Lara is certainly an invaluable treasure to the game of cricket and millions of fans across the globe and will certainly be immortalized in Cricket Hall of Fame for the sheer joy and entertainment value he has provided consistently to all cricket aficionados.