Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are arguably the greatest all-format players the game has ever witnessed. The likes of Rahul Dravid, and Ricky Ponting, are also in the conversation, but according to Lara, there is a name that although never made waves yet according to his estimation his ability superseded that of others including his and Tendulkar’s. Lara revealed the name of the player and it turned out to be none other than former West Indies captain Carl Hooper.
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Brian Lara Picks Carl Hooper As More Talented Than Himself And Sachin Tendulkar
In his new book, “Lara: The England Chronicles”, the former West Indies captain, who himself is regarded by many as the Greatest of All Time, picked Carl Hooper above him and Sachin Tendulkar. According to Lara, Hooper was one of the most talented players he ever played with and blatantly put out that he was even more talented than Sachin Tendulkar. Lara also made it known that considering the talent he possessed, he did not live up to his potential except from the time when he was the captain of the West Indies national team.
“Carl was easily one of the best players I’ve ever seen. I would say that not even Tendulkar and I 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 nearly 50, so he enjoyed the responsibility. It is sad that only as a captain did he fulfill his true potential,” Lara wrote in his book, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
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Carl Hooper’s career in a nutshell
As a batting all-rounder, Carl Hooper represented the West Indies in 102 Tests and 227 ODIs. He played from the year 1987 to 2003. He scored 5762 runs in Test matches at an average of 36.46 and 5761 runs in ODIs. It is a coincidence that there is only a gap of 1 run between his accumulation in Tests and ODIs.
Apart from batting skills, Hooper carried a seasoned bowler’s acumen. He took 114 scalps in Tests and picked 193 wickets in ODIs. He scored 20 centuries in his international career and also took 4 five-fers.
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