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News18
2 days ago
- Sport
- News18
On This Day In 1994: Brian Lara's 501 Not Out In First-Class Cricket
On This Day In1994: Brian Lara scored an unbeaten 501 for Warwickshire against Durham, setting the highest first-class cricket score, surpassing Hanif Mohammad's 499. On This Day In 1994: June 6, 1994, marks a special occasion in Brian Lara's illustrious career as the legendary West Indies left-hander recorded the highest score ever made in first-class cricket. The Prince of Trinidad achieved the unthinkable, amassing an unbeaten 501 during a County Championship match for Warwickshire against Durham in Edgbaston. On this day, Lara surpassed Pakistan's Hanif Mohammad in the list, overhauling the Pakistan giant's 499 made in Karachi against Bahawalpur in 1959. The backstory to Lara's incredible feat makes for an interesting read as it was a matter of fate that the West Indies great happened to play for Warwickshire that summer in England. If not for Indian seamer Manoj Prabhakar's injury, the flamboyant batter wouldn't have been able to fill the vacant overseas slot in the Warwickshire squad. Notably, Prabhakar was himself a replacement for the club's marquee South African recruit Allan Donald, who was on international duty. Luckily, Warwickshire chairman MJK Smith was in the Caribbean for England's 1994 tour to the West Indies and he offered Lara a £40,000 deal for the coming season after watching him amass a world record 375 runs in a Test innings in Antigua, going past Sir Garry Sobers's 365 not out. Lara backed the club's faith wonderfully, scoring six hundreds in seven County Championship games before producing his eight-hour marathon innings of 501* off 427 deliveries, including 62 fours and 10 maximums. The then 25-year-old plundered 2066 runs at an extraordinary average of 89.82 that season for Warwickshire. Lara recorded the 500 milestone in the dying moments of the rain-marred first-class match in Edgbaston after being reminded by wicketkeeper-batter Keith Piper that the play could be called off soon on Day 4. Alerted by his partner, Lara reversed a trend of dot balls against part-timer John Morris with a drive for four that took him past the colossal 500 mark. 'I didn't realise we were in the last over until four balls had been bowled. Keith Piper came up (batting partner) to me and said there were only two deliveries left. Records are there to be broken, and I'm happy to be the one doing it. If the records I have set are broken, I hope I am the one doing it. It's hard to compare my Test 375 with 501 here. You just have to cherish both of them," Lara said after the game. About the Author First Published: June 06, 2025, 07:10 IST
Indian Express
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
‘Test cricket needs Virat': Brian Lara says Kohli will be persuaded to not retire before England tour
West Indies batting legend Brian Lara has come out to urge India veteran Virat Kohli not to give up on Test cricket just yet after the 36-year-old recently told the selectors that he wanted to retire from the longest format ahead of India's highly anticipated five-match tour to England. On Saturday, the Indian Express reported that Kohli wished to retire from Test cricket with immediate effect, but the BCCI's top brass had urged him to reconsider his decision. Kohli's decision was revealed closely on the back of Test captain Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format after the national selectors told him that they were moving on from him after his poor returns in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Despite starting the series with a century in Perth in November 2024, Kohli also returned poor series overalls, tallying only 193 runs in nine innings at a 23.5 average. Of the eight innings where he was dismissed on tour, seven of Kohli's dismissals were adjudged caught-behind. A post shared by Brian Lara (@brianlaraofficial) However, in a social media post, Lara urged that Kohli needed to be persuaded to stay on in the red-ball format. 'Test cricket needs Virat!! He is going to be persuaded. He is NOT going to retire from Test cricket,' Lara wrote in an Instagram post below a picture of him with Kohli. '@ is going to average above 60 for the remainder of his Test career,' he added, expressing faith in the 36-year-old's enduring class and motivation. Kohli has amassed 9,230 runs in 123 Tests at an average of 46.85 since his debut in 2011 against the West Indies. His average dipped in the last five years, aggregating only above 2000 runs in 37 games with three hundreds. Kohli had already retired from T20Is after India won the T20 World Cup in West Indies last year. However, he was in supreme form during this IPL with 505 runs in 11 matches, including seven fifties, at a strike rate of 143.46.
Hindustan Times
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
'Virat Kohli is not going to retire from Tests': Brian Lara wants BCCI to persuade; 'He'll average 60'
Amid the growing reports of Virat Kohli's possible Test retirement ahead of the upcoming England tour, former West Indies captain and legendary batter Brian Lara has stated that the former India captain is going nowhere and he will be 'persuaded' not to leave the longest format of the game. Brian Lara, who holds the record for scoring the most runs in a single Test innings (400 not out against England) also stated that the longest format of the game needs a character like Virat Kohli. Lara also made a bold prediction, saying Kohli will average 60 for the remainder of his Test career. On Saturday, several reports emerged stating that Kohli has had a chat with the BCCI top brass, informing them that he no longer wants to play Tests. The reports also stated that the BCCI officials are now trying their best to persuade Kohli to sign up for the upcoming five-match series against England, beginning June 20. Kohli has been having a torrid time in Tests, scoring just four centuries in the last five years. The batter kept on being dismissed in a similar fashion in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and his numbers were below par, having scored just 190 runs in nine innings. However, Lara expects Kohli to change the fortunes around and come out stronger in Tests. 'Test cricket needs Virat!! He is going to be persuaded. He is NOT going to retire from Test cricket. @ is going to average above 60 for the remainder of his Test career. #testcricket #thebest,' Brian Lara wrote on Instagram. A post shared by Brian Lara (@brianlaraofficial) In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Virat Kohli managed just 190 runs in nine innings, including one century. The batter kept fishing outside the off stump as he constantly lost his wicket to the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc. Before the start of the IPL, Kohli had confirmed that he had played his last Test in Australia. 'If you ask me the intensity of how disappointed I've been... for me the most recent Australia tour would be the one that's most fresh. So, it might feel the most intense to me. But I can't look at it that way. I might not have an Australia tour again in me in four years' time,' said Kohli. 'I don't have the chance to correct it. So you have to make peace with whatever's happened in your life. Like in 2014 (against England) I still had the chance to go in 2018 and do what I did. It might not have been the case,' he added. Kohli, whose prime years in Tests were from 2014-2019 in Tests, has seen his Test average fall down from the high 50s to 46. This is primarily due to his poor return in the format in the last five years. Kohli has so far played 123 Tests and he is yet to breach the 10,000 run mark. Out of these 123, Kohli led India in 68 games. He is the most successful Indian Test captain ever.
India Today
10-05-2025
- Sport
- India Today
Test cricket needs Virat Kohli, he is going to average 60-plus here on: Brian Lara
Former West Indies batter Brian Lara said that Virat Kohli should not retire from Test cricket. Earlier on Saturday, it was learnt that the 36-year-old Kohli had reached out to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding his decision to quit playing in the longest format of the a senior official in the board spoke to Kohli, asking him to rethink this decision. In a post on his Instagram account, Lara, who is the only batter with an individual score of 400 in Tests, backed Kohli to bat at an average of above 60 for the rest of his Test wrote, 'Test cricket needs Virat!! He is going to be persuaded. He is NOT going to retire from Test cricket. @ is going to average above 60 for the remainder of his Test career.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brian Lara (@brianlaraofficial) Kohli didn't have the best of times when India toured Australia for the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy. He scored a century in the second innings of the opening Test in Perth, helping India win by 295 runs. But from there on, Kohli lost his way as India lost the series 1-3 with losses in Melbourne, Adelaide and Rohit Sharma also pulled the curtains down on his 11-year-long Test career. Rohit's retirement means that India need to pick a new captain for their upcoming tour of England. If Kohli steps down, India will be in with a huge challenge of finding his apt replacement in England, where conditions will be challenging for India slipped to fourth in the ICC Test rankings after also failing to qualify for the World Test Championship final to be held in will look to make amends and start the 2025-27 cycle of the WTC on a handsome note in the series opener against England, starting June 20 at Headingley in Watch
News18
02-05-2025
- Sport
- News18
Brian Lara Birthday: When West Indies Legend Went Unsold In 2011 IPL Auction
Happy Birthday Brian Lara: Among the finest cricketers to have graced the field, West Indies' legendary batter Brian Lara turns 56 on Friday, May 2. Fondly called the 'Prince of Trinidad', the great left-hander is remembered for his genius with the bat as he dominated teams across the world in Tests and One-Day Internationals. Lara held an enviable record in the two traditional forms of the game during his illustrious playing career between 1990 and 2007. Often left to wage a lone war with opposition attacks for a declining West Indies side, Lara produced 11,953 runs in 131 Tests at an average of 52.88 with 34 centuries and 48 half-centuries to his name. Lara's tally in Tests had him as the format's leading run-getter until surpassed by Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar back in 2008.
