Brian Lara

Net Worth

$60,000,000

Born in (City)

Santa Cruz

Born in (Country)

Trinidad and Tobago

Date of Birth

01st December, 1969

Date of Death

Mother

Pearl Lara

Father

Bunty lara

Children

Sydney Lara
Tyla Lara

About

Brian Lara is that player who always proved a point whenever he wanted to prove one. It’s not always only about your ability to bat in the test cricket, the format of the game which tests everything about you as a player, but also the mental ability is a crucial attribute to possess and I don’t think the world of cricket has seen so many players with such amazing mental strength. His amazing ability to concentrate for long hours at the crease is something beyond the regular players. He is a true genius when it comes to red-ball cricket. When he gets going, he is in a different league from everyone else. The man who brought half the crowd of the stadiums onto the field, not once, not twice, god knows how many times. A true legend who will stay alive with the cricket, forever.

Early Life

Born in Trinidad in 1969, Lara had an early education of correcting his batting technique at the age of 6 when his father admitted him into the local Harvard Coaching Clinic. And after joining, Fatima college, he started his development, proving his merit under the coach Harry Ramdas. At age 14, he scored 745 runs in the schoolboy's league with an unbelievable average of over 120 and that got him the place in the Trinidad national under 16 teams. In 1984, He played his first West Indian under-19 youth tournament(he was 15) and represented West Indies in the Under 19 level in the same year. In 1987, Lara scored a record 498 runs breaking the record of Carl Hooper(480) which was set the previous year, in the West Indies Youth Championships and that turned out to be his breakthrough year. He captained Trinidad and Tobago, winning the tournament, scoring a match-winning of 116 runs. In January 1988, against the Leeward Islands, Lara made his first-class debut for Trinidad and Tobago Against. He made an attractive 92 against a Barbados attack containing two greats of the West Indies team, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner, just in his second first-class match. Curtley Ambrose opined that 92 is almost an equivalent of 150. These matches attracted the cricket giants and he became a promising young talent from thereon.

Road to Success

The West Indies cricket was looking at a declining graph during the early 90s with the likes of Viv Richards retiring from the game and the nation was in serious need of a promising superstar. In January 1993, when West Indies was touring Australia, visitors were down by a test match trailing at 0-1 in a 3 test series. In the second test, which was only his 5th, Lara scored an impeccable maiden century and made it big. Before getting run out for 277, Lara stunned the crowds of Sydney as well as the whole cricketing world with his mental ability of batting for long hours. West Indies went on to the final two tests and the series 2-1. The superstar that West Indies looking for had arrived and arrived with a big statement. Cricketing giants realized that he was there to stay. He picked up the weights of falling West Indian legacy onto his shoulders and carried it for a long time. When you wonder why all the greats Lara as the toughest opponent to deal with, all you need to do is to tune into the West Indies test matches of the 90s and we will surely agree with all those legends. He surely was a genius. He won them the matches which were only possible mathematically and were impossible technically. Besides, he won all of them with grace, he was so attractive that opponents usually clapped him. As Michael Atherton says, there isn’t a more attractive player than Lara to grace the game of cricket, when he is in song.

Challenges

He was selected for the full West Indian team in 1988 but unfortunately coincided with the death of his father and Lara had to withdraw anguishedly from the team. In March 2005, Lara declined selection for the West Indies team because of a dispute over his personal sponsorship deal, which clashed with Digicel, the Cricket Board’s main sponsor. Six more players were part of this dispute, including Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and Dwayne Bravo. Lara said he declined selection in a stand of solidarity when these players were dropped because of their sponsorship deals. The issue was resolved after the first Test of the series against the touring South African team. His captaincy skills were questioned after his team’s poor performances in the away games.

Failures

Lara faced criticism with his leadership skills and his team's performances overseas. With West Indies facing a whitewash in South Africa against South Africa(5-0). It’s very sad to realize that Lara had never been part of a World Cup-winning side in his entertaining and amazing career. Though being the star performer of his team, he has failed to carry his team to success, which is a black mark in his record of leadership skills and is one of the reasons why Brian Lara has often been criticized for his leadership. This just goes to show, just because a player manages to play his/her position greatly, does not mean they can flourish as the leader of their team.

Achievements

Lara was inducted into ICC Hall of Fame in January 2012.|Set the record for the highest individual test score as captain (400*)|He was voted as second-scariest batsman to face in the "World's Scariest Batsman" poll of international bowlers|In 1994, he was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award.|In 1995, he was chosen as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

Quotes

I've played and I've been a student of the game
I am short of competitiveness,