Whenever you talk of cricket, people always remember batsmen rather than the bowler or the wicket keeper, there are many batsmen in the world who have been called "Legends" of the game. But one batsman who created a fear in the minds of opponents whenever he came out to bat and destroyed all the bowlers was Brian Charles Lara, the left-handed batsmen from Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. He was popularly called "The Prince".
Some of the greatest bowlers of all times - like Glen McGrath (Australia), Muttiah Muralidharan (Sri Lanka), Shane Warne (Australia), Alan Donald (South Africa) and Anil Kumble (India) rated him as the most difficult batsmen to bowl. His footwork and aggressive style of batting were loved by his numerous fans all over the world.
Lara was the tenth child in the family, he started playing at a very young 16, in the year 1985-86. He quickly came in recognition when playing for Red Stripe cup against the like of Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner, who were considered as the best fast bowlers of that time. Lara started his international career against Pakistan in 1990, though his scores were 44 and 5, Lara had already shown his class playing for Trinidad and Tobago. Lara was known for his long stay at the crease and big scores.
Brian Lara's first test century was a mammoth 277 against Australia at Sydney, from here on there was no seeing back for this great batsman who went on to create history. He is the only batsmen in the history of cricket to have scored a 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 plus scores. He has several records to his name.
World Records
Lara holds the record for highest individual score in test cricket, scoring 400 Not Out against England.
Lara holds the record for highest individual score in first-class cricket, scoring 501 Not Out against Durham.
He has scored 34 test centuries - highest by any West Indian batsmen.
He is the fastest to score 11,000 test runs.
He has scored most runs in a single over - 28 off Robin Peterson vs South Africa.
Brian Lara was not only best at test level but was also a remarkable player in one-day format of the game, he has amazed more than 10,000 runs in both forms of the game. In 299 one-day internationals that Lara played, he scored 19-100's. He is also the only batsmen in the history of the game to have regained the record of the highest individual score, first he scored 375 against England until Mathew Hayden from Australia scored 380 against Zimbabwe to surpass him. But six months later Brian Lara scored 400 to regain his record that stood for ten years.
Brian Charles Lara will always be remembered as one of the greatest cricketers in the history of the game alongside Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar.