Afridi: ‘Lara scared me’

Legendary Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has admitted that bowling to West Indies legend Brian Lara was, for him, always a terrifying experience.

Despite managing to dismiss Lara on a few occasions, Afridi, a fearsome hitter of the ball himself, admitted that he was never confident while running up to bowl to the often-brutal left-hander.

“That would have to be Brian Lara. I got him out a few times but whenever I was bowling to him, I always had the feeling in the back of my mind that he is going to hit me for four the next ball. He had an effect on me. I never bowled with any confidence to him,” Afridi said in a recent interview with Wisden.

Lara scored some 11,953 Test runs and 10405 ODI runs in a star-studded career, which included setting the highest individual score recorded in a Test match with 400.  Lara scored his highest total against Pakistan with a double century, at Multan, in 2006.

“He was a world-class batsman who dominated the best spinners he came up against, even the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka. His footwork against spinners was brilliant, and the way he batted against such bowlers was a wonderful sight. He was sheer class.” (SportsMax)