10 elegant, stylish batsmen who infused poetry into the game

#9 Brian Lara

That he is a West Indian is a sufficient description. His calypso batting personality, in spite of being so gentle outside the batting arena, allowed him to be arrogantly artistic. The batsman who walked even for LBW decisions, at times, had a poetic back-lift and a bat swing that reminded of the much-taller Gary Sobers, whose record in Test cricket he broke. Lara never had Sachin Tendulkar’s steadiness and calculations.

On song, he could hit everything, anywhere he liked. Graceful, even when out of touch, he was not one to cede ground to the opponents. Lara was probably amongst the last remnants of a great team and saw its decline, eventually hanging up his boots even though he could have easily owned his place in a weaker batting line-up for much longer.