Biography of Brian Lara:- Brian Lara was born on May 2, 1969 in Santa Cruz, Trinidad, he was 10th child of his parents, he was ignored, left out in everything before Lara decided to be someone, a one that is recognized by the world for his abilities.
Brian Lara was first selected in his school under-16 team at the age of 14, he had a good form and support from his tennis and soccer coaches. Lara opted cricket later, he made his journey to professional cricket when he was enrolled in Fatima College in the neighborhood.
In a local school league, Lara amassed 745 runs ruthlessly making him one of the best under-16 player in Trinidad.
His fame reached the camps and a Under-16 team of Trinidad & Tobago approached Brian Lara with a contract, in the next year Lara participated in his first-ever Under-19 tournament and then national Under-19 team later that year.
Biography of Brian Lara
- Born:- 2 May 1969 (age 48), Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago
- Height:- 1.73 m
- Test Debut:- 6 December 1990 v Pakistan
- ODI Debut:- 9 November 1990 v Pakistan
- Last ODI:- 21 April 2007 v England
- Bating Style:- Left-handed
With a stable ground in basic cricketing skills since his enrollment in Harvard Coaching Academy in Santa Cruz, his batting skills were only meant to be polished by the next coaches. He was one-level up from his teammates, he worked on his footwork, and at the peak of his career Lara’s footwork was smartest ever.
Brian Lara was a classical example of brilliance in batting, he was a champion, a one-man show in the latter stages of his career for West Indies. Once added to the team as a replacement to Sir Viv Richards, he went on to break or come near to any of Viv’s records.
US president Obama, during the visit to Trinidad, wished to meet Brian Lara, President Obama spent some quality time with the superstar, later described him as “the Michael Jordan of Cricket.”
Domestic Career
Lara excelled in every tournament he played since 1987, his first achievement was scoring brilliant 498 runs in the youth tournament, his match-winning century drove Trinidad to another domestic trophy while captaining them as the youngest ever leader. In the following year, Lara was all set to make his way to first-class cricket for his hometown Trinidad and Tobago, he finally got the chance in January. He was out on nervous 90s in his second match. Lara was only 18 when he made his First-class debut. Later half of 1988, Lara was appointed a captain of West Indies A team touring Australia and hosting India for bilateral series.
International Career of Brian Lara
In 1989, Lara got a chance to play for the national side, but he withdrew following his father’s death, he continued leading B-Team from the front. In 1990, he was handed the captaincy of T & T, he became the youngest captain of Trinidad and Tobago in 1990.
When a touring squad was announced for Pakistan, Lara’s inclusion in the 15-man squad wasn’t any shocking as he was too good to be ignored following 1989-1990 season, plus he was included as a replacement for all-time great Caribbean batsman Viv Richards.
On his debut at Lahore, Lara couldn’t handle the pace battery of Pakistan though he survived in the first innings making 44 but failed in the second inning with just 5 runs. He made his ODI debut against the same opposition on the same tour.
He was sent to the domestic circuit after the series, he replicated his batting style, improved the technique and improved his faulty footwork. Brian Lara’s first notable inning came off against Australia after three years in tests, his extra vagant 277 in Sydney resulting in a series win.
In 1994, Brian Lara had a great season and his appetite for runs amplified with his highest-ever individual runs ever in first-class cricket. He achieved the feat playing for County club Warwickshire when his unbeaten 501 got past Hanif Muhammad’s 499 previously.
In the record-breaking inning, he hits 10 sixes and 62 fours in the great run marathon. Lara contributed most than any other batsman in English summer season with six centuries in seven innings.
In 1994, Brian Lara recorded another mile stone with the highest score of 375 against England that remained intact on Lara’s record book for 9 years and reclaimed by him after a year with first and only 400 runs individual inning till now in Test Cricket.
In the next year, Lara scored an undefeated streak of three centuries in three matches, he was awarded man of the series award for brilliant back-to-back centuries.
The streak continued until 1998 when he was made the captain of the Test team in 1998-99 seasons, South Africa imposed a humiliating defeat, their first white wash in Test cricket since ages, that too under Brian Lara’s captaincy.
The series against Australia was drawn with Lara’s brilliance yet again when he scored a double century and three hundred. His double century was an absolute match-winner when West Indies chased 311 with 9 wickets down.
It was one of the best series for Lara, he was named a man of the series for the second time in Test series. The innings in Bridgetown was one of the finest by any International batsman in Test cricket.
Entering the year 2000, Lara had a dream to top every format of the game, with another man of the series award against Australia and third in his career, Brian Lara stats proved him one of the finest players to play Sri Lanka’s spin attack and brutal and ruthless Australian pace attack.
After a successful series surviving Aussie pace, the next big challenge was to tackle spin on the Lankan soil. He scored another double century, and two centuries, his scores equaled 42 % of the team total.
Approaching Retirement
After a streak of successful series, West Indies Cricket Board appointed Brian Lara as captain of Test team in 2003, it turned out to be the worst experience in the cricket biography of Brian Lara in the end as a cricketer.
With a series win as a captain against Sri Lanka, West Indies won the Champions Trophy in 2004 winning by two wickets against England.
Later in 2005, he refused to play due to his disputes with West Indies Cricket Board, his captaincy was handed to Chanderpaul that was later given to him in 2006. In 2004, Brian Lara scored an unforgettable and unbeaten 400-run inning against England.
After his third appointment, Brian Lara led West Indies to victory in the coming series against India and Zimbabwe, the season ended when West Indies was beaten in the Champions Trophy Final. Brian Lara completed his 10,000 ODI runs in December 2006.
At the time, Lara was one of the two players achieving the milestone. After he had retired from Test Cricket in November 2006, Lara retired from International cricket after World Cup 2007.
At the end of his career, Lara was acknowledged as one of the greatest ever batsmen by the likes of Glenn McGrath and Muttiah Muralitharan. The Prince of Port of Spain gave a lot to his fans and cricket world before making his final appearance.
His record quadruple hundred is still fresh and memorable after 11 years. Brian Lara was also the most comfortable batsman on the ground after Sir Donald Bradman, he was a legend of the nineties and early 2000s.
After his retirement from ODI cricket that was planned sooner than that match, he asked his fans either he entertained them or not, the crowd gave a huge cheer to the legend in response.
Post-Retirement Era
After the retirement, Brian Lara joined the controversial Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2007, he opted out for the next seasons. In 2008, Brian Lara returned to his hometown club Trinidad and Tobago, it was his first full-fledged domestic season since 1998.
His bat started omitting runs in the form of centuries and half centuries, he was injured for the next season and remained injured for the whole season. Lara appeared as a sports ambassador for Bangladesh Premier League team Chittagong Kings for 2013 season of Bangladesh Premier League.
He also played against Pakistan for World XI Team. Lara also played for MCC against the Rest Of The World XI. Brian Lara so far has earned 30 men of the match awards in ODI cricket, and 12 in the test cricket.
Brian Lara Family & Personal Life
Brian Lara was 10th in 11 of his siblings, his father Bunty died in 1989 that delayed Lara’s International debut by a season. Brian Lara had an affair with British Model Lynnsey Ward that was at its peak in the year 2000.
He later married Leasel Rovedas; both have two daughters, Sydney and Tyla. Sydney was born in 1996 and Tyla was born after 14 years in 2010. Brian Lara daughter Sydney was named after his favorite cricket ground SCG.
