Brian Lara was one of the most feared batsmen of his time and on multiple occasions carried the West Indies team on his shoulders, both with the bat as well as a skipper. Among the mountain of runs he scored in his storied career is the knock that still stands as the world record for most runs scored by a batsman in a single Test innings.
The West Indies legend scored a mammoth 400 not out against England in 2004 at the Antigua Recreation Ground in St John’s — a record that looks unbreakable, just like Sachin Tendulkar’s 100 international centuries.
Lara first broke the record when he went past Gary Sobers’ 365 in 1994 to set the mark at 375, which was breached a decade later by Australia great Matthew Hayden, who pushed it up to 380. But Lara rewrote it in his name just a few months later by scoring 400.
It’s been 20 years since Lara achieved the feat; and when asked if any among the modern-day batters could breach the mark, he listed two Indian batsmen and two from England.
“How many aggressive players do you have playing today?…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.”
Talking about Gill and Jaiswal, both have showed insatiable hunger for runs in red-ball cricket. But while Gill’s highest to date is 128, Jaiswal has already scored two double centuries in his nine-Test career so far. In total, Jaiswal has scored 3 hundreds and 4 fifites in his 1028 runs that have come at an average of 68.53 with a highest of 214 not out.
Gill, meanwhile, has played 25 Tests so far and scored 1492 runs at an average of 35.52, including 4 hundreds and 6 fifties.