2 modern Test batsmen who would have wreaked havoc in yesteryears
It has been a favourite pastime for most cricket enthusiasts to compare the cricket players across the generations. The old-timers vouch for Vivian Richards and Sunil Gavaskar, and the newer generation thinks that they have watched the best batsmen during their times. This debate never ends. However, there are two modern-day batsmen who would have wreaked havoc in yesteryears.
I have discussed them below.
#2. Brian Lara
Brian Lara made his debut against Pakistan in 1990. They nicknamed him as "The Prince of Port of Spain." Being a left-handed batsman, he was delightful to watch with his extra back-lift and beautiful footwork. One could see a glimpse of David Gower and Garfield Sobers in him.
Lara believed in working hard and hence, toiled hard to get his runs against the best of the bowling attacks. The West Indies team were on a downslide when he started playing, but he did not give up. The Prince carried the burden of the entire batting and played as if there was no tomorrow. Lara dominated the greatest bowlers of his time which included Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Wasim Akram, Andrew Flintoff, and others.
He was known for his dogged perseverance. Like Clive Lloyd, he moulded his temperament; and emulated Vivian Richards when the conditions demanded him to be offensive. Lara scored 400 not out in 2004 against England in and it was one of the most superlative innings that any batsman ever played.
Lara played all the shots in the book and added his ‘Midas touch’ to them. He played the perfect square-cut and could pull almost any fast bowler to the boundary ropes.
Ian Chappell said, “He has the only score of 400 in test cricket, a triple century and seven double centuries. That's a remarkable feat, especially when you consider neither Tendulkar nor Ponting has a triple century.”