Brian Lara has picked the young Indian batters Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, apart from two Englishmen, who can break his Test world record of the highest individual score of 400*.
Many consider Lara to be the original marathon man of Test cricket, having twice set a Test match record for the highest individual score. In 1994, he surpassed Gary Sobers’ 365 to score 375 against England, a record that held for ten years until Matthew Hayden hit 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003.
But apparently, the record was too important to Lara, since just a few months later, Lara repeated the feat, this time achieving a quadruple century to claim the world record once more, also against England at the same venue.
Lara did admit that there were a few batters who looked like they could break his record during his time, including the likes of Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle. Notably, Sehwag, Gayle, and Brian Lara, along with Sir Don Bradman are the only four batters with two Test triple-tons to their name.
“There were players in my time who challenged, or at least went past the 300 mark – Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, Inzam-ul-Haq, Sanath Jayasuriya. They were pretty much aggressive players,” Brian Lara told The Daily Mail.
Lara’s 400-run record is in the same bracket as Tendulkar’s 100 centuries. It looks unlikely but never say never.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill: Brian Lara’s picks for breaking his record of 400 runs in a Test innings
Lara’s record of 400 runs in a Test innings by a batter seems unbreakable in modern-day cricket as teams and batters play for wins rather than draws. On the same note, if Lara could think of names who can do it, the list includes two Indians and two English youngsters.
“How many aggressive players do you have playing today? Especially in the England team. Zak Crawley and Harry Brook. Maybe in the Indian team? Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill. If they find the right situation, the records could be broken – both of them,” said Brian Lara.
Crawley and Brook epitomized England’s ‘Bazball’ style of play, and as Lara pointed out, aggressive batters had a higher chance of breaking Lara’s record.
On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal hammered 700 plus runs in the recent England Test series including back-to-back double centuries. All of Jaiswal’s three Test hundreds are more than 150.
As for Gill, his highest Test score thus far is 128, compared to Jaiswal, who’s already notched up two double centuries, to go with an innings of 171 on his debut.
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