Lara v Tendulkar - Settling the Issue

Thu, Feb 21, '02

A man with beard as bushy and unkempt as a porknocker?s and who had about half gallon more rum than his faculties could have managed staggered into one of the dozens of rum shops in a rustic village along the East Bank of the Essequibo river.

He surveyed the fly infested surroundings and the unofficial cricket historians and enthusiasts gathered there and announced in a most unwelcome and mischievous manner, "Hear Ye! Hear Ye! De Indians are coming! Best batsman in de world coming to de Caribbean!"

"What?!," screamed Lord Shabba as he simultaneously jumped to his feet and slammed his glass to the table murdering quite a few flies. "Absolute nonsense, de best batsman in de world live right hey in de Caribbean, Trinidad to be exact," he continued as he poured another shot to replace the one that spilled all over the table and our clothes only a moment ago. Lord Shabba rested his case. For him the matter was non-debatable.

Scanty, his friend of 60 years disagreed slightly. "De man is de best ?Test? batsman in de world, Shabba," he said in his slow meticulous slur. Lord Shabba frowned and guzzled down everything in the glass before him except the ice.

"Sir Brian Charles Lara, de Prince of Port of Spain and King of de Caribbean is a better Test batsman dan dat chap from India, punto finale, story done," Scanty slurred again looking up in the direction of the bushy bearded fellow who had since disappeared after raising the ant nest.

Scanty is certainly right I thought but how do I support it all? As Scanty endeavoured to recount that masterful innings of 167 he saw Lara play at Bourda in 1994 I pretended having to ?take a leak? and began an eager walk home. When I got to this sweet place to cricinfo.com I surfed. I found everything from the startling to the obvious from the results of the comparison of the Test statistics of the two batting geniuses.

It may very well be that because both these illustrious mega-stars have shockingly similar Test match stats that the debate is on going about who is better.

Yes, yes we all agree that the King of Calcutta with his 11,000 plus One Day runs is the best batsman in that butchered form of the game. No argument there.

Ladies and gentlemen kindly hush your fly traps, pour yourself a very long shot of Guyana?s Five Year old rum, lean your ears this way and allow me to settle the issue like the sediments settle in a still glass of Guyanese tap water.

Let us examine the facts. Tendulkar has played six more Test matches than Lara (89 to 83), but Lara has batted in four innings more (147 to 143). Sachin has more Test runs but a mere 198 more (7419 to 7221). The Indian?s average is better but in the context of Test match cricket by an insignificant 8 points (57.96 to 50.49). This would have been a telling difference had it been the One-Day version of the game we were considering. Sachin has more triple figure scores (27 to Lara?s 18) but Lara has four more fifties than Tendulkar?s 30.

The Prince is by far and away a heavier scorer. His top three highest scores (375, 277 & 221) are all higher than Tendulkar?s highest (217). Sachin has two double centuries Lara has four. Lara has 15 scores between 40 and 49, the Joy of Mumbai has 8 less than him.

So from a look at their general career stats they both even out and one would have some difficulty ending the debate by saying one is better than the other.

Deeper must we delve into the fine print to separate the Maestro from the Master.

Lord Shabba and Scanty both agree that ?ah bad man is ah man who bad ah yard and bad abroad.?

Since we?re endeavouring to see who is the ?badder? man of the two we must scrutinize the figures and determine where these two bad men have reigned supreme.

The folks back in India surely know of their man?s blistering blade, they?ve seen him rip attacks apart with their own eyes. He has scored 300 runs or more on six grounds at home. Stupefyingly however, he has only scored 300 or more on one ground beyond the boundaries of the world?s largest democracy. And not far beyond either, right next door in Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground on a wicket that he must have felt was flown in from Bangalore.

Lara has piled on 300 or more runs on grounds in four continents and many Caribbean islands. Ask the fans who frequent the Adelaide Oval and Sydney Cricket ground in Australia. From experience they will tell you the Man from Trinidad reigns supreme. To beat the mighty Australians for that many runs on two separate grounds in their own backyard ?de man got to be de badder man!?.

The rum is there to drink gentlemen, bottoms up! There is more to come.

Old Trafford, Manchester, England. Another continent, another ground, another 300 total for the man who tramps and wines with his Manchester United buddy, Dwight Yorke in the Queens Park Savannahs come Carnival Tuesday.

And at that very ground where Sachin has totaled his only out-of-India 300 Lara, only as recent as the last Christmas season plundered the now Number One rated bowler in the world and company to parts of the park only the grass there knew existed.

One 300 total in the only English speaking country in South America and every other Test venue in the Caribbean except Arnos Vale in St. Vincent demonstrates his unquestioned class and devastating home form.

At the ARG in St John?s Antigua Lara has scored a massive 1096 runs. Sachin?s highest total on any ground is 655 at the MA Chindambaram Stadium in Chennai. Our Prince?s second highest ground total - 691 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados ? is still better than the Indian dude?s best total at MA Chindambaram.

Is there anyone now who wants to speak in rebuttal over the resounding chants of LAA-RAH! LAA-RAH!?

Fire another one and try to remember this, it is critical. Tendulkar has never played in a six Test series. Lara has, twice. He scored a hundred and a fifty too.

Tendulkar, poor fella, has only played in two five Tests series, Lara has played ten. And further he has only played in a four Tests or more series four times. Sir Charles has done so twelve times, knocking off three hundreds and seven half centuries. Maybe I shouldn?t but I will - Lara has more experience batting in a wider variety of Test matches.

Is that rum just about done now? You?ll need more, this rum shop lecture is not quite over.

Sachin, as mighty as he is claimed to be, only has two scores over 200. And just who trundled to him while he blasted them away? Uh oh, the lowly rated toothless Zimbabwe and New Zealand attacks. Seems as though the chap just can?t score heavily against good quality bowling. The Prince can teach him a thing or two about belting the revered Australians for double hundreds. He has done it twice ? inclusive of his first hundred, that massive 277 at the SCG. That 277 is one hundred runs more than Tendulkar?s best score against the boys from down under.

The Trinidadian King quite simply shows his clear cut superiority when the opposition is the best that can be thrown at him. Let us take note here of the fact that he towered over his teammates in his last series against Sri Lanka when Murali was rampaging through and Chaminda Vaas was in ripping form. He countered them, attacked them, and massacred them for scores of 178, 221 and 130. That was a show of sheer authority and dominance.

Lara too has an established reputation for producing runs when his team?s back is against the wall which further emphasizes the fact that Lara is a batsman of great heart. Want evidence of this? His average batting when the West Indies were following on is 71. What is Tendulkar?s? An incomparable and minute 11.

The English attack, inclusive of Angus Fraser and Andy Caddick, he bludgeoned for his world record 375 by all means was head and shoulders above the two attacks Sachin took advantage of for his two doubles. But coming from Trinidad it would be an abomination if Lara did not score more ?doubles? than Sachin.

And let me mention two other quickies, take my final sip of the Five-Year Old and run. The man has the world record for the highest innings every played in Test cricket and has played the greatest Test innings ever, so determined because of the quality of the opposing bowlers ? McGrath, Warne, Gillespie and MacGill. And Tendulkar has what world record you were saying?

Gentlemen let?s finish the rum and celebrate having the greatest Test batsman in our team. The greatest and best Test batsman ever, Sir Brian Charles Lara, Prince of Port of Spain, King of the Caribbean and now beyond doubt King of the World (Calcutta included).