Lara calls Tendulkar ‘Bradman of this era’

DUBAI - Former West Indies captain Brian Lara has called Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar the Don Bradman of this era.

Lara, himself a great batsman who broke the world records for highest Test score with an unbeaten 400 and an unconquered 501 in first class cricket, said he admires Tendulkar’s longevity in the game and is looking forward to his 50th Test hundred.

“The time he will spend on the game, records are going to tumble. The fact that someone can be there from the age of 16 and still at the age of 37 perform brilliantly is something that I cherish more than anything else,” Lara, who hung his pads three years ago, told Gulf News.

“Tendulkar has shown the world what he is capable of and his longevity in the game is something to be really appreciated,” he said.

“I am really looking forward to his 50th Test century and for him to score nearly 15,000 Test runs and over 17,000 runs in one-day cricket is itself a remarkable achievement.”

“He is our period’s Don Bradman. Forget the difference in averages with Bradman but whoever I have spoken to, who have seen very old players in action; they believe that he (Bradman) would not have averaged 99 in today’s cricket. So, I believe that Sachin is our period’s Bradman.”

The 2011 World Cup will be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh next year and Lara feels it is the country from the sub-continent which has the best chance to lift the trophy.

“It is hard to say right now because there is still a lot of cricket to be played between now and the World Cup. I feel that a sub-continent country, playing in the subcontinent will always be a force to reckon with.”

“The last time when the World Cup was held in Asia in 1996 it was won by Sri Lanka. However, one cannot say whether even West Indies might come good by then.”

“Australia is struggling a bit now but nobody can be written off. You can get a clear picture once the days get closer,” he said.

Lara, however, is unhappy with the progress of the cricket in the Caribbean and feels the need to change the present infrastructure.

“It is three years since I retired but nothing has improved greatly. I will not put the blame on the players because I don’t think we have the infrastructure that can generate good consistent cricket against the best,” Lara said.

“Until we fix the infrastructure we might see some wonderful performances one day and some awful performances another day. It could be as usual more failures than success.

“I want the infrastructure to change before we actually think about getting back to the top.”

The recent incident of corruption have “disturbed” Lara but the West Indian but hoped International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Unit will take the required steps.

“Like all sports cricket too has been at it. We saw it happen in cycling and even rugby recently. We have to learn to deal with it.

“The International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Unit has taken all steps to support the players. I am disturbed by it and I am hoping the game comes out of it and it is not something that keeps recurring all the time in the game.

“We had dealt with it in the nineties and the fact that it is still surfacing is a bit of a worry,” he said.