On April 12 2004, West Indies batsman and then captain Brian Lara became the first man ever to scored a quadruple century in Test cricket when he walked back to the pavillion with 400 not out to his name against England in Antigua.
Brian Lara had his name etched in golden letters in the history book with his marathon innings which lasted 582 balls and he spent 778 minutes (almost 13 hours) in the middle.
Coming in at the stroke of the first hour at number 3 in the first session of Day 1, Lara batted and batted and batted the England bowlers into ground. He batted almost the entire Day 1, the entire Day 2, and reached the 400-run landmark after Lunch on Day 3. The left-hander stroked 43 fours in his innings along with 4 sixes.
However, the innings took so long, with him even slowing down as he neared his milestones, that England escaped with a draw with 5 wickets left in their second innings.
Brian Lara’s record of 400 runs as the highest individual Test score in an innings has stood for 19 years.
And it may have seemed unlikely to be broken until a few years ago, now, though, with the modern game, anything is possible.
Here are 3 batsmen who can break Brian Lara’s 400 runs record in Tests:
Rohit Sharma
The first name on anyone’s mind currently when thinking of breaking Lara’s 400-run historic record would probably be Rohit Sharma. Sharma had his Test career resurrected when he started opening in Tests in 2019 and straightaway hammered a double century against South Africa. In that innings itself, many fans felt that Rohit could cross Lara’s 400-run record. However, he got out.
Rohit has a knack for playing big innings, scoring those daddy hundreds – he’s the only batsman to have 3 ODI double centuries, while most don’t even have one – and winning the game with the bat.
Rohit Sharma grows in confidence and his scoring rate shoots up as he goes deeper into his innings. So if he gets on a roll and get to 200-250, the score of 400 will be totally possible.
Although Rohit, 35, is nearing the end of his career, he has plenty of gas left in the tank; he’s got plenty to achieve in Test cricket in particular, and breaking Lara’s record would be an apt way to write another chapter in his illustrious career.
Harry Brook
24-year-old Harry Brook has had as sensational start to his Test career as he would have dreamt of. Brook was thrust into the middle-order after Jonny Bairstow’s injury in England’s revolutionary Bazball Test team, and has taken Test cricket by storm.
In 9 innings of 6 Test matches so far, Brook has scored 809 runs at an average of 89 and strike rate of 98. He’s epitomized Bazball perfectly, taking down and attacking the bowlers, irrespective of the conditions, irrespective of the strength of the bowling attack, and irrespective of the situation.
Brook has already hit 20 sixes in 9 Test innings and is close to breaking some all-time sixes record in the format. When Bairstow comes back, Brook might be promoted in the top 3, and that will give him the platform to chase the 400-run record of Brian Lara.
Prithvi Shaw
Although he’s currently out of the Indian Test team, 23-year-old Prithvi Shaw can make a comeback into the national side. With his aggressive, fearless, and dominating batsmanship, Shaw will always be threatening Lara’s 400-run mountain.
On his Test debut itself Shaw set the tone for things to come. As a 19-year-old, Shaw made his Test debut against West Indies in 2018 and hammered a scintillating century on debut, scoring 134 runs off 154 balls. In the second Test, he smashed 70 runs in only 53 balls.
Injuries and lack of form later meant he fell out of favor. But if he remains disciplined and focused, both on and off the field, Shaw can force himself back into the Indian team and in the future could seriously chase big records, including the one from Brain Lara.
