Brian Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket, scoring an unbeaten 400 against England in 2004. This surpassed Matthew Hayden's score of 380, which the Australian batter scored six months before that. Hayden broke Lara’s record of 375 against England in 1994. It was also against England.
The West Indian great has now chosen two young Indian batters who, according to him, have the potential to break his record in Test cricket.
'There were players in my time who challenged, or at least went past the 300 mark - Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Sanath Jayasuriya. They were pretty much aggressive players,” Lara told the Daily Mail.
“How many aggressive players do you have playing today? Especially in the England team. Zak Crawley and Harry Brook. Maybe in the Indian team? Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill. If they find the right situation, the records could be broken - both of them,” he added.
Recalling his record score of 400, Lara said he could not sleep the previous night. He ended the second day of the Test match with 320 runs. He needed 46 more to break Sir Garfield Sobers' record.
He recalled feeling restless early in the morning, realising he needed to find a way to expend some energy and do something different.
Brian Lara told the publication that he had loved playing against England. His first full tour away from home was the five-Test series in England in 1991, where he learned a lot. He cherished wearing the sweater and interacting with West Indians and English crowds at Lord's and the Oval.
By reading and listening, he grasped the significance of cricket to Caribbean people and sought to emulate past cricket giants.
The West Indies cricket team is in England to play 3 Test matches. The first one started on July 10, and the Caribbean team got bundled out for 121 in the first innings. In the match being played at the Lord’s, England were 68 runs ahead after Day 1.
For his home team, Lara has a suggestion: “Be aggressive. Face aggression with aggression.”
