Brian Lara Names Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah Among His Picks For The Best Cricketers Of Present Era
Published - 05 Dec 2020, 11:53 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:29 PM
Former West Indies skipper Brian Lara recently revealed his picks for the best players of different generations in the game. The batting legend took to Instagram to reveal the names of five players from different generations. Talking about the present era, he picked two Indians in the form of Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah.
Brian Lara picked Kohli, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, England’s Joe Root, South Africa’s AB de Villiers and Australia’s Steve Smith as the best batsmen of this era. He, however, did not rank the players. Kohli, Smith, Williamson and Root are widely considered as the best of the era and are famously called Fab Four.
He also revealed his pick for the five best batsmen and bowlers he played against. Among batsmen, he picked Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara and Rahul Dravid. The West Indian legend then picked Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, Waqar Younis, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Glenn McGrath as the best bowlers he faced.
In another category, Brian Lara listed the best West Indies cricketers of all time. This list of five includes George Headley, Everton Weekes, Garfield Sobers, Vivian Richards, and Malcolm Marshall. Among the five best West Indians of his era, he named Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, and Chris Gayle.
Brian Lara is himself one of the finest batsmen in the history of the game. He retired from the game in 2007 after finishing his career with 22,358 runs and 53 international centuries. He holds the record for the highest individual score in Test cricket for his unbeaten 400-run knock against England in 2004.
He also holds the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, as he scored 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994. The legendary batsman played 131 Tests and 299 ODIs for West Indies. He managed to score 11,953 runs in the longest format of the game while he registered 10,405 runs in the 50-over format.
