Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara?
Ratnakar Venkata - 3 April 2002

Sachin Tendulkar. The name inspires millions of cricket lovers across the world. To some, he is demigod and, to others, perhaps God himself. All this is but inevitable given the amazing consistency of this child prodigy. A few years from now, no player will dare take aim at this genius’ statistics - around 15,000 runs in one-dayers as well as Tests, including around 30- odd tons in both forms are genuine possibilities.

But is greatness only about consistency and quantity? Enter Brian Charles Lara

This diminutive southpaw from the Caribbean announced his arrival on the world stage in the 1992 World Cup. But that was just the beginning. The innings he played in the years to come had one unique characteristic about them; they were all were played amid the literal ruins of the once-mighty West Indian side that is going only one way - due south.

Consider these innings - 277 at Sydney in 1993, 375 at St John’s in 1994 and, most recently, 153* at Bridgetown in1999. This last- named innings deserves special mention as one of the best innings played in living memory and is indeed rated the second in the all-time top 100 Test innings as compiled by Wisden.

Let us see why. Chasing a victory target of 309 in the fourth innings, the West Indies lost its fifth wicket for 105 runs on the fifth day, the likes of Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie breathing fire. Lara then put on a 133-run partnership with Jimmy Adams, but soon the scoreboard read 254 for eight. Now he had to wage the battle with Curtly Ambrose as a partner at the other end, Courtney Walsh (the man who holds the record for most ducks) still to come. Howzat?

Win the West Indies did, in one of the greatest Test victories in the history of the game itself. Australia had scored 490 in the first innings of the match, but they still lost the Test. Furthermore, Lara's innings came on the heels of his epic 213 at Sabina Park. And this is not even to mention that he was the skipper of his side and under probation. Lara's scores in that series are astonishing - 62, 5, 213, 8, 153*, 100, 7. Most of the time, it was just Brian Lara versus Australia.

The statistics will always prove that Lara is streets ahead of Tendulkar when it comes to scoring heavy runs in a series; his centuries include scores of 375, 277, 221, 213, 182, 179, 167 and 153*. But Lara's game is not at all about statistics. The classic innings he has played include the ones in the recently concluded Sri Lankan tour against Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. Scores of 178, 40, 74, 45, 224, 130 flowed off his bat, and this when his team was beaten 0-3. To further pursue the records avenue, most of the occasions on which Tendulkar has notched up a big century, his team has already put 150-200 runs on the board. In contrast, Lara's team has always been in tatters.

Cricket connoisseurs too would not brook too many arguments before saying which of the two batsmen’s innings is more of a magical treat to watch.

And finally, some other facts. While Lara features at number two in the list of top 100 Test innings, a place in the top 100 eludes Tendulkar. In the one-day scale, Lara has two innings in the top 10, while Tendulkar comes in only at number 23. These ratings, for a change, take more into consideration than the crowd attendance and the endorsement value of the player.

The views expressed above are solely those of the guest contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.
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