News Sports Cricket Brian Lara backs four players to break his famous 400 record; includes two Indian stars

Brian Lara backs four players to break his famous 400 record; includes two Indian stars

"There were players in my time who challenged, or at least went past the 300 mark - Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Sanath Jayasuriya and they were pretty much aggressive players," Brian Lara said.

Brian Lara Image Source : GETTYBrain Lara during the Test against Zimbabwe in 2000

The legendary West Indies cricketer Brian Lara revealed possible candidates who can break his famous 400 record in Test cricket on Thursday. Lara's 400 runs in an innings against England remains the highest individual score with no active cricketer threatening to break it.

Lara scripted history by smashing 400* off just 582 balls in the first innings of the fourth Test match against England at Antigua Recreation Ground in St John's in April 2004. He broke Matthew Hayden's 380-run record to become the first-ever cricketer to reach the 400-run mark in any format of the game.

The former cricketer Matthew Hayden, Chris Gayle and Mahela Jayawardene came close to matching Lara's record but no active cricketer has managed to score past 300. The recently retired Australian veteran David Warner smashed 335* against Pakistan in 2019, the closest score to Lara's record. 

Lara talked about the aggression needed to break his near-impossible record and highlighted four cricketers Zak Crawley, Harry Brook, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill who could break his record. 

"There were players in my time who challenged, or at least went past the 300 mark - Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Sanath Jayasuriya," Brian Lara told Daily Mail. "They were pretty much aggressive players.

"How many aggressive players do you have playing today? Especially in the England team. Zak Crawley and Harry Brook. Maybe in the Indian team? Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill. If they find the right situation, the records could be broken – both of them."

Notably, Lara also backed Jaiswal to score 400-plus after the Indian youngster smashed two double centuries against England earlier this year. Shubman Gill is yet to make a big impact in Tests with a highest score of 128 and recently lost his opening spot to Jaiswal. 

England cricketers Zak Crawley and Harry Brook have been aggressive since England's bazball approach in Test cricket and are real contenders to score big in red-ball cricket.