Not many bowlers can brag about taking 800 wickets in Test cricket. In fact, no one except the indomitable Muttiah Muralitharan holds this record. Therefore, when the spin king named former West Indian captain Brian Lara as the best batter of spin over several Indian legends, it was something to take notice of as even Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were world-class whilst facing spin.
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During his appearance on Cyrus Says earlier this year, Muralitharan claimed that Lara played him “better than anyone else”. The context of the conversation was derived from West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka 2001 where Lara had scored 688 runs across three Tests at a staggering average of 114.66 with the help of three centuries (including a double ton) and a half-century.
Although in a series whitewash, Lara scoring 285 runs more than the second-highest run-scorer was enough for him to earn a Player of the Series award. Vividly remembering the battle between Lara and Muralitharan, host Cyrus Broacha termed it the best he had ever seen. In response, Muralitharan agreed.
“He [Brian Lara] played better than anyone else. He played well. He scored like 600 runs in the series and I got close to 28 wickets in the series. We won everything. He only scored and other people couldn’t score at all,” Muralitharan said on Cyrus Says.
Only batter who could read Muralitharan in a series in which he picked 24 wickets at an average of 22.33, Lara had made it possible after having watched hundreds of tapes of his bowling. All in all, as per an ESPNcricinfo statistical piece, Lara scored 373 (709) against Muralitharan which included three dismissals. Their battle was one for the ages.
Muttiah Muralitharan Narrated How Brian Lara Farmed Strike For Carl Hooper
Muttiah Muralitharan also narrated a funny incident from that series where Lara and Carl Hooper concocted a plan to successfully avoid the off-spinner without losing any wickets.
The bearing of that responsibility was automatically on an in-form Lara as Hooper refused to face Muralitharan, who he called the “best spin bowler in the world” once he equaled Richard Hadlee’s record of most 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket as per another ESPNcricinfo article. The respect, adulation, and fear for Muralitharan among all West Indian batters was palpable throughout the series.
“When he [Carl Hooper] came to bat, he told Brian, ‘I don’t want to face him. You take all six balls, I will be playing other person. Don’t bring me into it’,” the smiling assassin said of Hooper.
Muralitharan also mentioned how, despite a huge gap in Lara’s runs compared to other batters in the series, there were several great players of spin in that West Indian squad.
For the unversed, Lara’s record of 688 runs is only second to former English great Graham Gooch’s 752 in a three-match Test series against India at home. Also against West Indies at home, Pakistani legend Mohammad Yousuf follows Lara in this list with his 665 runs coming at an average of 133.
Lara went on to score many centuries in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but surprisingly, without ever scoring a Test hundred in India. Nevertheless, he remains one of the legends to ever play the game.
