Brian Charles Lara became the first batsman in the history of cricket to score a quadruple (400 runs or more) in a test match against England at Antigua in 2004

According to some, he’s ‘The legend’ of the game of cricket or for some he’s ‘The greatest test batsman in the history’, Brian Charles Lara was a one-of-his-kind with rare skills and match-winning abilities. Born in Trinidad, the stylish left-hander was touted as the biggest bet in international cricket after Sir Don Bradman. In his heydays, Brian Lara scored plenty of runs in all formats of the game and broke several batting records while playing for West Indies.

On this day in 2004, in a test match against England at Antigua, Brian Lara did the unthinkable when he struck a quadruple century (an individual scored 400 runs or more) in the 4th match of the series. In the first innings, West Indies scored a mammoth total of 751/5 thanks to Lara’s 400 and Jacob’s 107. Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan also contributed to team’s total with scores of 69 and 90 respectively. However, the match ended in a draw as England survived despite playing the follow-on in the second innings of the test. Marcus Trescothick and skipper Michael Vaughan played crucial knocks of 88 and 140 to avoid the defeat. Eventually, skipper Brian Lara has adjudged the Man of the Match for his memorable knock. England went on to win the 4-test series 3-NIL.

With his innings of 400, Lara reclaimed the record for Test Cricket’s highest score as he surpassed Australia’s Mathew Hayden’s score of 380 which he scored against a weak Zimbabwean bowling attack in October 2003. Earlier, the record was also held by Lara at the same venue, Antigua Recreation Ground, Antigua, when he scored 375 against the same opposition England in 1994. In his interviews, Lara has talked immensely about another West Indian great, Sir Garfield Sobers who was regarded as the greatest cricketer to ever play the game in his times. According to Lara, it was his dream to emulate the feat of great Sobers and break his record of highest Test score (365) for Windies. And, the Trinidadian did it in a simply majestic fashion and made the world cricket proud.Not once, but twice. There is no doubt that the test cricket was probably at his best when legends like Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or Ricky Ponting played the game and gave us numerous moments of joy and pride.