Brian Lara, a famous West Indies cricket player, believes that young Indian players Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill can beat his record for the highest score in a Test match, which is 400 runs. Lara set this record on April 12, 2004, when he scored 400 runs without getting out against England at Antigua Recreation Ground in St John’s, Antigua.
During his time at bat, the skilled left-handed batter exceeded Australia’s Matthew Hayden’s total of 380, which he scored against Zimbabwe in October 2003. But since then, no one has been able to break that record, even though there have been 11 instances of players scoring 300 or more in international cricket during that period.
When discussing his unbeaten record, Lara mentioned that many great players like Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, and Sanath Jayasuriya have tried to beat his score in the past.
“During my era, some players scored more than 300 runs in a single match. These include Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and Sanath Jayasuriya. They were known for their aggressive style of play,” Lara said in an interview with The Daily Mail.
He also mentioned that he believes players like Zak Crawley and Harry Brook from England, as well as young Indian players Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, might be the ones to surpass his record in the coming years.
Zak Crawley has improved his batting significantly since Ben Stokes became England’s captain and Brendon McCullum took over as head coach. The 26-year-old player has achieved a top score of 267 in Test matches. In contrast, Harry Brook is a promising talent in Test cricket, having accumulated 1181 runs in 20 innings with an average of 62.15 and a strike rate of 91.76. Brook’s highest score in his brief career is 186.
On another note, Yashasvi Jaiswal has demonstrated his ability to play lengthy innings by scoring two double centuries against England earlier this year. The left-handed batsman has scored 1028 runs in 16 innings of Test matches, averaging 68.53.
Shubman Gill made a strong start to his career by scoring a winning 91 against Australia on the final day of the important Gabba Test. In his 25 matches so far, the young player has scored 1492 runs with an average of 35.52, including four centuries and six half-centuries. It will be exciting to see which of these four players will be the first to score 300 runs in a single innings and come close to breaking Lara’s record.
