Lara: Tendulkar is the best in the world

The man with the two most coveted batting records - the highest individual scores in Test and first-class cricket - wants to emulate Sachin Tendulkar for the rest of his career. An announcement that will surely go down well with Indian cricket lovers, especially since the current series was billed as a personal battle for supremacy between the two.

"Now I'll do what Sachin is doing - score runs a lot without thinking of anything else," Lara said. "I've lost some precious years and run-scoring opportunities. However, from now on, it will be different." The first Test was but a minor blip in these plans. "I was not out in Guyana. Srinath didn't appeal, but the umpire ruled me out. It happens in cricket, but I'll try my best to score more runs now," he said in an interview, sitting in his luxurious drawing room in Trinidad.

On the possibility of captaining the West Indies again, Lara said, "Why should I? Nowadays there is too much politics regarding the team selection. You can't lead the team as you wish, and I don't think that the situation will change in the near future. So I am happy to be a team member, and my job is restricted to scoring more and more runs."

"I think I've done something in cricket for the islands. But nobody is ready to recognize that. I scored 688 in a three-Test series in Sri Lanka, but when I didn't throw myself down in the field at the Bourda Oval, the gallery reacted in a way that hurt," reflected Lara. "I could not play cricket for the last five months due to the injury to my left arm. Had I thrown myself down, I would have been injured again. But they were not bothered. So I am happy to be just a member of the side. Captaining the side is no longer my dream."

On Sachin Tendulkar, Lara's rival in a much-hyped contest, he said, "At present he is the best batsman of the world, undoubtedly. I might have won more matches for the West Indies than he has won for India, but no other batsman in the world is as consistent as he. I've never come across such a dedicated player. And he is a master against any form of attack. He missed a hundred in Guyana, but I can tell you that he will be scoring more runs in the rest of the four Tests."

Lara had some words on Sourav Ganguly as well. "I am quite impressed with his batting too. Sachin is great against any kind of attack, but when it is a question of playing spin and medium-pace, I feel Sourav is more intimidating than Sachin," analysed Lara. "He didn't get Nagamootoo in Guyana. Had he got him, the scenario could have changed quite easily. I know he is not comfortable against lifting deliveries, and he should be devoting more time in the nets to mastering these kind of deliveries. Otherwise, he is a champion batsman."

While dwelling on another contemporary great, Steve Waugh, Lara could not help commenting on Waugh's removal from the Australian one-day side. "The world is such a cruel place. They don't remember you once you have finished the job you were required to do. His batting is not such a wonderful sight, but how can you ignore the fact that he had won more matches for his country than any other contemporary batsman?"

Lara's last series, in Sri Lanka, was a dazzling one by personal standards; the West Indian scored 688 runs in three Tests, many of them against arguably the best spinner around today - Muttiah Muralitharan. "I took some tips before going to Sri Lanka from Sir Garry Sobers, and they worked. Basically I waited for two hours at the crease in the very first innings against him and began to sweep," said Lara. "Immediately he spread the field, and it was easier to find the gaps. Then it became relatively easy. Sir Gary also told me to change my grip a little. The legend's tips have always benefited me, and thanks once again to him for being so cordial and lovable. As far as my 688 is concerned, I have dedicated it to my mother."

The current series, naturally enough, came up as a topic of discussion. On whether Harbhajan Singh would be a crucial factor in the ongoing series, Lara said, "I have not played him before, so I am not in a position to comment on his bowling. But a bowler who has taken 32 wickets against the Australians in a three-Test series has got to be one of the better spinners in the world. He will get assistance from the wickets here, too, so we'll have to be cautious in our approach."

His Caribbean side, said Lara, had one disturbing weakness. "Our bowling - Cuffy and Dillon are the two who will have to bowl much. I don't think you can think about winning too many matches with such a bowling strength. That is another reason why I don't want to be the captain of this Caribbean side!"