OTD| Prince of Trinidad Brian Lara was born in 1969

Brian Charles Lara will be one name that has been etched in the history books of cricket and the West Indies. The former Windies captain was born back in 1969 in a small village named Cantaro, in Trinidad and Tobago. The left-handed batter has left numerous records behind his name in international cricket, especially in Test. Lara has been one of the most stylish batters of his generation, and his strokeplay has mesmerised several fans throughout the years of his career. 

The Caribbean legend started his career at the age of 14 when he scored 745 runs in the schoolboys’ league, with an average of 126.16 per innings, which gave him selection for the national under-16 team of Trinidad & Tobago. In the very same years after playing for the state team, he represented the U-19 team of the West Indies. 

The Southpaw debuted in the year 1990 against Pakistan although he could only score 44 and 5. Three years later he scored a double hundred in Sydney against Australia, as he played a knock of 277 runs as the Windies won the series by 2-1. He then did not turn back and smashed several records. As a captain, he scored five double-centuries which was the highest until Virat Kohli broke the record. 

Brian Lara: Best red ball player

He holds several world records for high scoring. He has the highest individual score in both first-class cricket and international Test cricket. The left-handed batter has scored 501 runs in first-class cricket that is yet to be beaten by any batter, and in 2004 he did the impossible as he scored 400 runs in a Test innings against England. His 400 not out also made him the second player after Donald Bradman to score two Test triple-centuries before Virender Sehwag scored two. 

In 131 tests he has scored 11,953 runs with an average of 52.88 with 34 hundreds and 48 half centuries. He was inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame at the awards ceremony held in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a 2012–13 season inductee.