Sachin Tendulkar's record ODI double century against South Africa has again set the stage for comparisons about who is the best batsman ever. All the comments centre on Tendulkar's greatness against that of Sir Don Bradman. Some have even stated he was the only player who deserved to achieve this record. Drawing reference to his records of most Test runs and most Test centuries, it is clear the majority of the rest of the cricketing world have either forgotten or conveniently ignored the double world record holder, Brian Charles Lara. So again, why is that? It appears there was no love lost by Lara's sudden retirement in 2007. In fact it can be suggested that many were glad by his departure and others ushered it in with dark smiles and hand slapping.
But where did the love go? When Lara finally was given the opportunity to perform, he not only succeeded, but he captivated the world with his brilliance whether it was his 277 (run out) against Australia in Sydney, or his first world record score of 375. The outpouring of love from all around the world was tremendous. Everyone wanted a piece of this native of T&T, born in Santa Cruz. His record 501 against Durham for Warwickshire was hailed as one of the best innings ever because of its longevity and Lara's remarkable determination and concentration. There was so much love and respect in those years that it seemed Lara could do no wrong. It might be that Lara tasted the poisoned chalice of West Indies captaincy too soon. There was always the opinion that Lara was one of the best cricketing minds around, having trained under one of the best, Michael "Joey" Carew. But that placed so much of a burden on his shoulders that he began to examine his options and look for ways out of cricket. The love was beginning to diminish.
The West Indies Cricket Board never assisted. They believed this young man was acquiring too much fame and success and was becoming more influential than the Board. They put him on probation for the Australian series in the Caribbean and after a dastardly batting collapse in the opening Test in Port-of-Spain, the daggers were drawn– love had turned to hate. But a series of herculean batting performances, none more so than an imperious 153 not out against Australia at Kensington led the West Indies to a dramatic one wicket victory and 2-1 lead in the Test series and they all loved him. When he was forced to regain his world record, the vast majority thought he could not. We were all wrong, He replied with 400 not out. And the plaudits returned. Several former great West Indians seemed upset with all the attention. It was to be a case of jealously but it was allowed to fester and eventually permeate the air.
Indian commentator Harsha Bogle, writing on Cricinfo in an article headline � "Tendulkar's glory untouched by fame" says "And he (Tendulkar) has never forgotten why he started playing the game in the first place. "The best have lofty ambitions when they begin but soon commerce, like a tenacious worm, gnaws into them. Fame surrounds them and prevents the fresh air of reason from breaking through. They acquire sycophants, that great curse of success. "Tendulkar has kept those demons at bay. He has made more money than anyone else in the game, acquired greater fame than is imaginable, but you could never guess that from the way he plays his cricket. "He remains the servant, pursues the game with purity. Through the last decade India have been well-served by like-minded giants." Can anyone recall any of our regional journalists writing about Lara in such a manner? What has Lara done, that our noted West Indian scribes have in unison, ignored his achievements and concentrated on his failings?
This begs the question. Did Lara retire too early? And did he erode his chances of being acknowledged as great and with that lose the love of the cricketing world. He was 37 years-old when he retired. Tendulkar is 36 years old. It is always dangerous to say–what if? But there are many who wonder what if Lara was still around? To those who know him, his appetite for runs has never drained but he was unable to deal with the lack of love around him. Tendulkar does not have that problem. Both old and young Indian players respect and admire their star batsman and shower him with adulation. There is no media calling on him to retire. There are no players trying to make him look bad. The excuse that is made for this is insularity in West Indies Cricket. This does not exist in India with Tendulkar considered the golden boy from Bombay. Lara though, has moved on and is now involved in several other business ventures.
Tendulkar is always smiling while Lara is mostly sulking. So is it something that Lara can fix with a better marketing job, especially now as he is involved in event management and planning. Ideally, I would have loved Lara to score 200 in one-day cricket. Like the highest scores in Test cricket and first class cricket, both which belong to him, he would have recorded the highest score in every area of the game. It was not to be. But it surely is no reason for us to stop loving the Prince of Trinidad and Tobago.
