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A tribute to Lara

zen

By zen
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zen Grand Master

zen

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A tribute to Lara I don't know how to start this one as early on I wished Lara would fail as he was pitted against our desi great Tendulkar. Lara is one of the players who has come up with some unbelievable performances that makes you go like "How did he do that?" In the early 90s, there was a time when Pakistan used to do well against us at Sharjah. WI was playing a series there and Lara hits 150 odd against Pakistan. We also used to struggle in Australia (we still do now :P ) and in one of the tests he hit a majestic 277, which was rated by many as one of the best innings of all-time. I just couldn't ignore this guy and deep down felt he was a genius at work who knows how to get the really big runs. Lara's career has been like the line in the heart-beat monitor. It is not really straight but, like Lara's personality, alive and kicking (up and down). It goes up and down as can be seen in his performances against India. In the early 90s, WI was touring India and much was expected of Lara. But may be he didn't see Indian bowlers as much of a challenge or just didn't click but he was ok in the series. India won the first test and the 2nd was a draw. The 3rd test was heading for a draw and may be that was the challenge Lara was looking for. He rose to the occassion and produced the best inning of the series, making our bowlers look clueless to get an 80 odd in no time. That inning not only allowed WI to declare early but give them enough time to bowl India out and level the series. Our warriors probably couldn't handle the pressure :dontknow: .... Similarly, in the test in WI where India got out to 81 requiring 120 odd to win, he hit that 40 odd in WI's 2nd innings when others struggled. His inning probably was the difference between India and WI. His exploits against England are stuff of legends. He broke the long standing record of Sobers which was remarkable but what was unbelievable was that he got that record back! You hit once in a life time inning of 375 and then better it up with a 400*. Unbelievable! :stewie: .... I re-call in a county game, the WK (Jack Russell?) had dropped his catch early on in his inning and Jack had remarked "now he will go on to score a 100". Well, Jack was right but Lara just didn't hit a 100, he hit a 501*. This was like 'how did he do that" moment. Hitting not big but "really big" 100s is what Lara is known for and that too at a good SR .... Once Dravid was asked if he could break that 400 runs record and Dravid, in the humor he is known for, said something to the order "I will have to bat for more than 5 days to get that". The Lara vs Australia dual excited cricket fans around the world and the legend didn't disappoint with innings like 277 (mentioned earlier), 213, etc. The inning that probably tops the list is when the prince of Trindad single handedly hit a 150 odd to help WI chase in a test against the dominating Australians, who were probably wondering too that "how did he do it?". Like most cricketers, Lara went through a lean phase and there was a time when his test average went below 50. Many thought that he could be finished but they probably didn't know Lara well enough to realize that another "how did he do it" moment was coming up. He went to SL, a tough place to tour for many teams, and played magical cricket. SL bowlers were rendered helpess. He made tons of runs (600+?) in that 3 test series and his test average was back to 50! And after that series in SL in 2001, he went on to dominate test cricket again till he retired in 2006. He is rated by many as the best test batsman of his generation. Talking about going out on a high note: In his last series against Pakistan, he scored 2 hundreds, including a double. At that time, the man was a few runs short (less than 50) of becoming the first man to get to 12k test runs but he didn't care for that landmark and hung up his boot. Like his performances on field, his retirement was in a way unbelievable too. Lara never failed to amaze the cricket fans. :hatsoff: to the prince of Trindad PS brian_lara_spe-0020050110.jpg

vvvslaxman Grand Master

vvvslaxman

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My best memory is his 5 fours against pat symcox in the 1996 world cup. Not sure the order in which he hit 5 fours.. But all went through off side.. covered 180 degree arc beautifully. That was sublime.

Dravid_TheWall Newbie

Dravid_TheWall

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I really enjoyed watching him and he was one of my fav batsmen, my regret is similar to yours, wish I appreciated him that little bit more rather than see him as a rival to our own indian batsmen. Now I appreciate the genius he was, never will there be a batsmen as great as BCL, real match winner.

Precambrian Newbie

Precambrian

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hyper overrated batsman... undoubtedly glorious to watch on song.. but one whose handful of innings bloated him to the big league. and no, I don't rate his 400 or 375 any more than I rate sehwag's triple hundreds.

vvvslaxman Grand Master

vvvslaxman

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hyper overrated batsman... undoubtedly glorious to watch on song.. but one whose handful of innings bloated him to the big league. and no, I don't rate his 400 or 375 any more than I rate sehwag's triple hundreds.
That is the triple hundred that helps almost all Indian fans boast in padosi forums .. "Sehwag finished saqlain's career" .. It is not easy to score 300s.. That is why no one has scored more than twice in the history.
Precambrian Newbie

Precambrian

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That is the triple hundred that helps almost all Indian fans boast in padosi forums .. "Sehwag finished saqlain's career" .. It is not easy to score 300s.. That is why no one has scored more than twice in the history.
i didn't berate Sehwag's efforts.. if anything Lara's 400 was epitome of sellfishness if the same yardstick was applied to them as was to Tendulkar's 100th 100.. cost WI a consolation win.
pensionplan Newbie

pensionplan

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Nice write up OP. Best of Lara has to be the way he trashed Murali in his own backyard over three tests. No one does that to Murali. How dare? Of course with the exception of the Prince.

The Outsider Newbie

The Outsider

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i didn't berate Sehwag's efforts.. if anything Lara's 400 was epitome of sellfishness if the same yardstick was applied to them as was to Tendulkar's 100th 100.. cost WI a consolation win.
West Indies scored 751 and England made 707 for the loss of 15 wickets before time ran out. How did Lara's innings cost his side a win?
velu Grand Master

velu

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Lara's 111 vs SA in 1996 QFs.. One of my fav innings and it was the time i started following cricket. In 90s Saffers use to bully us and they were my most feared team even more than aussies. SA were the favorites and won all the league matches, and then comes lara and KOed SA.. :bow: WI choked vs Aussies in the last 10 overs in semifinals , otherwise we never know, wI might have won the 1996 WC. NvwtHjuoc-o

Zelig Newbie

Zelig

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My pop's & bro's fav batsman :icflove: I was too young when he made the 151*. But my fav innings of his was against SA in 2005 (?) 2nd test. He missed the 1st test due to contract issues. The commies said he was taking care of business in US 2 days before the Test match, came into the match with absolutely no match practice, just one net session and smashed a 190 against Ntini, Nel and Kallis. Scored more than half of his team's total. He literally "retired" a debutant bowler. :hatsoff:

velu Grand Master

velu

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^^Did Klusener and Donald not play in this match? Out of 111' date=' there were like 100 runs against Paul Adams and the other spinner.[/quote'] in the same series he scored 60 (70) and 45(45) vs McGrath & co and both were low scoring games :bow:

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