So far, several West Indies players have left for India to play in the IPL. Former West Indies batsman Brian Lara is also in attendance. He will be the batting coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
During a discussion yesterday, Muralitharan and Lara, the spin coach of the Hyderabad team, began to reflect on their past. Recalling how he played against Lara Murali in a Test match in 2001, Murali said he was still amazed at the attacks on him.
Although Murali destroyed the entire West Indies in that match, Lara faced Mutali very well. The conversation was spread on Sunrisers Hyderabad’s official YouTube channel. Murali said,
“I’m still amazed by the shots you played against me. I opened the on-side area and spun the ball away from you. You waited and played the on-drive.”
In the third Test at Ssc, all the other players were out for a cheaply but Lara hit 221 off 354 balls with 23 fours and two sixes. Murali recalled:
“Marvan told me to open the field. We wanted to get you out by making you play something you were uncomfortable playing. We thought the on-drive was something that is difficult to play as the ball was spinning away this much.”
He also laughed at the conversations between the captain and Murali to get Brian Lara’s wicket.
“Marvan said, ‘Have your sweeper and open the mid-on area. He also will take a chance as there is no fielder there.’ You hit three fours in the mid-on region in one over. And then I came back and Marvan said, ‘No! that doesn’t work.”
Lara scored 688 runs in three Tests, including a half-century and three great centuries. However, in the end Sri Lanka won the series 3-0 with Muttiah Muralitharan leading the wicket taker in the series.