Former skipper Brian Lara has stated his stint as the West Indian captain as the most tumultuous. He even accused the West Indian cricket board of not supporting him during those days.
In an interview to the Sky TV, Lara rued:
It (the captaincy) was tumultuous times. I think the most important thing about a leader, first of all he has got to be in charge of a very good team and the support also has to be great. In my case, I’m not afraid to say the support from the cricket board (WICB), wasn’t great.
Lara, one of the most prolific run-getters for his side retired from cricket last month after his team’s second round exit from World Cup at home.
Pressing on the fact that full backing by the cricket board is required if the captains were to succeed, he said:
If it is anything I would maybe like to mention to them (WICB) is that, next captain — it’s Ramnaresh Sarwan at this present time — whoever it is, I think support from the board — and of course the people — but I think if it stems first of all from the board and everyone knows they are behind that person in charge, then I think that is very important.
Lara said captainship is a not a bed of roses and captaining the side is a tough job as players forming the team came from different countries.
He further added:
It’s a tough thing, coming from so many small nations in the Caribbean. When things are going well, everyone comes together. You get love from Jamaica right down to Guyana but as soon as things are not going too good, people go back into their little territory. That’s unfortunate.They say that cricket is the only unifying force in the Caribbean. I question that sometimes. It can breed a lot of animosity which is unfortunate but that (cricket) is so significant in our lives — we should try as much as possible to come together,
Lara had many ups and downs in his career in which he thrice became the captain. He had to face disgrace from the fans whenever the side lost. And after the team made an exit from the world cup, fans wanted Lara’s head. Soon after, one of the best batsmen of all time resigned. The highest scorer in a test match admitted that one of the blemishes to his otherwise outstanding career was his lack of patience during tough periods and said:
My problems most of the time stemmed from the mental side of the game. Sometimes the weakness of my game is really my patience, not being able to understand the situation, hang in there a bit longer than I expected and working it out a little bit better. A couple of those bowlers, maybe McGrath (Glenn) and Shane Warne tested those periods more where I wanted to move from being dominated to dominating and Glenn McGrath is not the sort of person you dominate very easily.
Most of the times, his side looked forward to him to take them to victory and he came out with flying colors. Lara ended his glittering career as the leading run-scorer in Tests, having compiled 11 953 runs in 131 matches at an average of 52, with 34 centuries.
Via: Newskerala
