In their heydays they were one of the finest in the business and are legends of the game in their own right. Former West Indies great Brian Lara is one of the finest modern day batsmen and perhaps the best left-handed batsman to play the game of cricket.

When he batted, the Trinidadian took the winds out of the sails of several bowling attacks. The one team that he loved the challenge of batting against is Australia. The elegant southpaw scored 2856 runs against the Aussies in 31 Tests at an average of 51, which included 9 centuries and 11 half-centuries.

While Lara had a great record against the great Australian paceman Glenn Mcgrath, he was troubled by a contemporary of McGrath’s. Brett Lee has a good record against Lara, having dismissed him 5 times in ODIs and twice in Test cricket. While Lara did score runs against Lee in Tests, his record in ODIs against the paceman is modest.

The two have now retired from the game but managed to renew their rivalry during Star Sports’ feature show Gully Cricket. The two IPL commentators got together to play in front of fans and Lee showed that the competitive fire still burns in him as he targetted Lara with a sharp bouncer. He posted the video on Instagram with the message, “A impromptu game of Gully Cricket in Mumbai with my good mate @bcl375400 .Lee vs Lara, 2 over clash! Had to bowl my two favourite deliveries.Bouncer to Lara followed up by the Yorker to some poor bloke on the other team. Good crowd to cheer on the great West Indian Brian Lara.

Lara evaded the bouncer and took the impact on his chest. Both Lara and Lee faced off against each other on several occasions in international cricket.

First Published: Apr 12, 2019 17:24 IST