'Not even Tendulkar and myself would come close': Lara hails this former cricketer
Lara even mentioned that legendary West Indies batter Vivian Richards loved Hooper than him, even though he didn’t want either to be better than him
Though West Indies legend Brian Lara is considered one of the finest batters of all time along with India great Sachin Tendulkar and the two cricketing icons had always been a huge admirer of each other, Lara has named a player who he thinks was even more naturally gifted than him and the ‘Master Blaster’.
Lara termed his former teammate Carl Hooper as the best player he has ever seen in terms of raw talent. “Carl was easily one of the best players I've ever seen. I would say that not even Tendulkar and myself would come close to that talent. Separate Carl's career from playing to captaining and his numbers are very different. As a captain he averaged near to 50, so he enjoyed the responsibility. It's sad that only as a captain did he fulfil his true potential,” Lara wrote in his new book, ‘Lara: The England Chronicles’, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Lara was all praise for Hooper’s performance while he captained the West Indies side. “Separate Carl's career from playing to captaining and his numbers are very different. As a captain he averaged near to 50, so he enjoyed the responsibility. It’s sad that only as a captain did he fulfil his true potential,” he said.
“He was so talented, yet he didn't understand just how good he was. People would ask why he didn’t do full justice to his brilliance, and you know what, there is no clear reason for it,” he added.
Lara even mentioned that legendary West Indies batter Vivian Richards loved Hooper than him, even though he didn’t want either to be better than him.
Hooper played 102 Tests and 227 ODIs for the West Indies between 1987 and 2003. He had almost identical runs in both formats, scoring 5762 Test runs at an average of 36.46 with 13 centuries and 27 half-centuries. In ODIs, he had 5761 runs at an average of 35.34 with seven centuries and 29 half-centuries. Hooper was also a talented spinner and was often deployed as an all-rounder. He took 114 wickets in Test cricket and 193 in ODIs.