'He was easily one of...' - Brian Lara's big statement on former West Indies batter Carl Hooper; compares him with Sachin Tendulkar

Former West Indies batting legend Brian Lara made a massive statement in his book, 'Lara: The England Chronicles' which shook the cricket world. As per Lara, former West Indies captain and great batter, Carl Hooper is one of the finest batters ever, and he's probably better than Sachin Tendulkar and Lara himself. 

"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 fulfil his true potential," wrote Lara in his book. 

Hooper had appeared in 102 Test matches and 227 ODIs. He played from 1987 to 2003, scoring 5762 runs in Test matches and 5761 runs in ODIs. He was a prolific batter in his time who was fearless and never shied away from hitting the loose balls coming his way. The cricket world greatly respects him, so Lara praises him for who he is. 

West Indies' chances of qualifying for WTC 2025 Finals seem bleak

With one win in five matches, West Indies are in sixth place on the World Test Championship 2023-25 points table. They have a win percentage of 20.00 and now have very few chances of qualifying for the finals. Their ongoing series against England might have been a breakthrough if they had won the first match. 

Also Read: James Anderson ends his Test career on a high as England trounce West Indies

However, they failed to win the match and are now in a serious position where they have to win most of their upcoming matches to play in the WTC Finals. Most probably, the finals will be scheduled in 2025. Currently, India are in the first position and Australia are in the second.