Happy Birthday to the legendary batsman Brian Charles Lara! Arguably the greatest batsman to ever step on the cricket field turns 51 today. The Prince of Trinidad was an absolute artist with the bat in his hands. He was the benchmark for flair and high backlift.

The main motive of Lara while playing was to entertain the crowd which he truly did. His breathtaking shots against all sorts of bowling and his god gifted ability to find gaps in the field made him an unprecedented entity. Whenever he was asked about how he was able to score so many big scores so consistently he would answer and say he could do it because he never wanted to leave the job of scoring runs to anybody else. Brian Lara always believed he could help his side win a match from almost any situation.

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His careers in numbers:

Tests: 131 matches, 11953 runs, average 52.9, 34 100s, 9 200s, 2 300s, highest 400*

ODIs: 299 matches, 10405 runs, average 40. 5, 19 100s, highest 169.

In his illustrious career, time and time again he left the cricketing world in awe of his once in a generation talent. The southpaw could do it all – he could bat on a difficult day 5 pitch in a Test with the same authority as he did on a bouncy track in Australia or South Africa.

In 1993, Brian Lara made his debut Test century against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground and went on to score 277. In 1994, he broke Sir Garfield Sobers world record and made 375 at ST. John’s, Antigua.  One year later in 1994, playing for Warwickshire against Durham, the Caribbean became the first batsman to score 500 runs in a first-class match in the County season. He remained unbeaten on 501* and made one of those records which will rarely be broken on the cricket field.

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In 1996, he scored a brilliant 111 against South Africa in the World Cup Quarterfinals and took West Indies to the semi-finals after 13 years. Lara was at his best and in a pressure match chasing a tricky total delivered for his side. In 1998, Brian Lara made three hundred against Australia in a Test series and single-handedly helped his side draw the series 2-2. Lara made a sublime double ton in Kingston Jamaica and in the next innings, he played perhaps the greatest test match knock. 153* at Barbados and helped his side chase down an impossible target of 308 runs. He took the fight to the Aussies again in the next Test and scored an 82 ball 100 at Antigua.

In 2003, the genius batsman made a comeback to the West Indies side in the opening match against South Africa in the World Cup. He was out of action as he was suffering from fever. Lara smashed 116 in his comeback innings. Also that year he smashed 28 runs in one over off Robin Peterson of South Africa at Johannesburg which back then was the most in one over in Test cricket.

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In 2004, he led West Indies to victory in the 2004 Champions Trophy in England. Later that year, Brian Lara once again became the world record holder as he became the first man in history to score 400* in international cricket which still stands as a record. In 2005, he went past Allan Border and became Test cricket’s leading run-scorer. During a Test match against Australia at Adelaide, he went past the runs tally of Border (11,174) and made history. The rich statistics are a testimony that his appetite and hunger for big runs was second to none.

In 2007, he brought curtains to his legendary career after the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. He was run out on 18 in his final match as West Indies were knocked out of the mega event. An emotional Lara bid goodbye to cricket and in the post-match presentation he asked the crowd, “Did I entertain?’’, and the crowd at the Kensington Oval in Barbados erupted and cheered for him one final time.

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Often people ask who is the greatest batsman of all time? Most of them will go with Sachin Tendulkar or Sir Don Bradman but when it comes to providing sheer entertainment with his batting, no one can look past Brian Lara. Lara was beyond numbers and statistics. He attracted crowds to the stadiums and mesmerised them with his unmatched abilities. The southpaw when in his best was simply peerless.