Former West Indies cricket legend Brian Lara has named his ‘Greatest of All Time’ (GOAT) players, including Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah alongside Glenn McGrath, Jacques Kallis, and Adam Gilchrist. Lara revealed his selections during his recent appearance on the ‘Stick to Cricket’ podcast with former England cricketers Phil Tuffnell, Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, and David Llyod.Bumrah, a T20 World Cup winner for India, has claimed 455 wickets in 206 matches at an average of 20.47. His best bowling figures are 6/19, and he has taken 17 five-wicket hauls across formats. In Test cricket, he has been particularly impressive with 217 wickets in 47 matches at an average of 19.48.
McGrath stands as the fifth-highest wicket-taker in international cricket history, with 949 wickets at an average of 21.76. He is Australia’s most successful Test pacer with 563 wickets and has won three World Cups, holding the record for most World Cup wickets with 71.Kallis’s all-round abilities have earned him over 10,000 runs in both formats and more than 500 international wickets. He is the sixth-highest run-getter in international cricket with 25,534 runs at an average of 49.10, including 62 centuries. His bowling record shows 577 international wickets with best figures of 6/54.Gilchrist transformed wicketkeeper-batting with 15,461 runs in 396 international matches at an average of 38.94, including 33 centuries. His Test record is particularly impressive with 5,570 runs at an average of 47.60 and a strike rate of 81.95. He also holds the second-highest dismissals across formats with 905.Lara also named several players in his ‘legend’ category, including Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Kevin Pietersen, and Kane Williamson.
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Rohit Sharma has accumulated 19,700 runs in 499 international matches at an average of 42.18. He holds multiple records in limited-overs cricket, including the most World Cup centuries and most T20I centuries.Chris Gayle, with 19,538 runs in international cricket, revolutionized T20 cricket. He holds the record for most T20 runs with 14,562 and most sixes with 1,056.Shaheen Afridi, at just 25 years old, has already taken 345 wickets in 174 matches, ranking as Pakistan’s 12th-highest wicket-taker.Kane Williamson, who led New Zealand to their first ICC World Test Championship, has scored 19,086 international runs at an average of 48.56. His Test record shows 9,276 runs at an average of 54.88 with 33 centuries.Kevin Pietersen, England’s third-most successful batter, scored 13,779 runs in international cricket at an average of 44.30. His Test career yielded 8,181 runs at an average of 47.28 with 23 centuries.
