Brian Charles Lara

A hero,a magician,an entertainer,a match-winner,a saviour,a leader,a tragic romantic,Brian Charles Lara, like as masterful actor,slipped in and out of several roles with effortless erase.First thing's first,Lara will forever be remembered as one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era,bracketed alongside the elite company of Sachin Tendulakr ,Ricky Ponting and Jaques Kallis. Lara's wizardry and sheer style through world trump any batsmen including the aforementioned troika. Another attribute that set him up as a cut above the rest was his voracious appetite of big,massive scores,armed with a high back lift,generating that typical caribbean flourish,Lra was equally efficient against spin and pace. Ask shane warne , Muttiah Muralidharan ,Wasim Akram , Glenn McGrath and the rest of their breed. Lara initially excelled in junior soccer and table tennis but cricket was his burning love. As a 15 year old lad at Fatima college in Port of Spain,Lara amassed as many as 7 three figure scores in a single season of the inter-school competition. Under-19 and first-class cricket fallowed suit. In only his seconf first-class encounter,the southpaw held fort for more 300 minutes,compilling 92 against Trinidad and Tobago's sporting rivals-Barbados-in a sterling effort that defied the likes of Joel Garner and Malcom Marshall. There was no looking back as Lara, at the age of 20 ,was appointed as T&T's captain,thus claiming the honour of becoming the youngest ever to lead Trinidad and Tobago.In the absence of Viv Richards , Lara was handed his Test debut the same year against Pakistan 44 and 6. Right after the test through he was banished to the domestic circuit and returned to the biggest stage only after the departure of Viv.