Lara said the loss would be not only for the people in the Caribbean, but also for West Indies players, writes Ayaz Memon.
ST KITTS-NEVIS: Brian Lara has made a clarion call to Sachin Tendulkar: Get well soon chum, we still have to have a few jousts more before I call it quits.
“I was very keen to play against him in the Tests at least,” said Lara. “Now the earliest possible opportunities seem to be the matches in the United States in late July, or perhaps the Champions Trophy in October. But I hope Sachin is back before that.”
Lara’s urgency on Tendulkar’s fitness is understandable. At 37, time is running out for him. Lara indicated as much in his post-match press conference on Tuesday. “This weekend’s matches against India could be my last on my home ground at Port of Spain,” he said. Though Lara should be around till next year’s World Cup at least, he knows his prospects of playing against Tendulkar are fast receding – and there are still a few things to settle with the Indian master.
Lara and Tendulkar vied with each other throughout the 1990s for the status of best batsman in the world, and while Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and Matthew Hayden have been as, if not more, prolific since the turn of the century, the romance of Lara versus Tendulkar contest remains undiminished.
The batting geniuses have chased each other’s achievements for more than 15 years. Both have made in excess of 10,000 Test runs, and while Lara holds the record for the highest innings score in the history of the game (400), Tendulkar has the highest number of centuries (35). But more than statistics, it is the quality of their batsmanship that has won unstinting plaudits from pundits and plebeians alike, their recent indifferent form notwithstanding.
“If Tendulkar had been here, it would have set the Test series alight,” said Tony Cozier, who has watched some of the greatest batting talents over the past half century. It’s a sentiment that finds an echo everywhere in the West Indies, among people who love to see a great contest, and even more, great players in action.
Lara said the loss would be not only for the people in the Caribbean, but also for West Indies players. “Guys like Sarwan and Gayle would have benefited a lot,” he said. “There’s always so much to learn from a master.”
Sadly, not this time.
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