Lara awaits ‘next challenge’

The West Indies legend, 41, was marked up at the highest reserve price ($400,000) for last month’s IPL 4 auction, despite not playing competitive cricket consistently for four years.

None of 10 participating teams though took up the opportunity to buy the Trinidad and Tobago-born left-hander’s services, leaving him unsold along with Mark Boucher, Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Sanath Jayasuriya and Graeme Swann.

Lara nonetheless is adamant he still enjoys any form of participation in the sport, hinting his comeback hopes – and time at the crease – may be far from over.

“There were conversations before and I had possibilities of playing in the IPL,” said Lara, who is currently in the emirate with the Zimbabwean national team as a batting consultant.

“I spoke last year with Lalit Modi, who – at that time – was in charge of it. Unfortunately, what has transpired over the last six months with him has definitely put a little dent in that. It just didn’t work out.

“But, I’m enjoying my space, which is most important, and – whether I’m playing cricket in Zimbabwe or being a batting consultant like I am here – I’m enjoying my life and looking day-to-day for the next challenge.”

Lara’s current task for the time being is to assist Alan Butcher’s 15-man squad in their preparations for the forthcoming World Cup in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

His remit as a batting consultant would imply the ex-Warwickshire batsman has been drafted in to impart his wisdom solely on a technical level.

However, Lara hopes to convey the message that what goes on between the ears is equally as significant at the very highest echelon of professional cricket.

“Raising the level of confidence and self esteem in the players is a major factor,” he explained.

“A lot of players around the world get really tied up in the technical aspects, which is important.

“But, I believe that – when you get to this level – you must have done something good performance-wise to get here and now it’s a matter of staying there.

“The mental side of it is very, very important. My mentality was my strength and I’ll be trying as much as possible to get the guys thinking at a different level, being motivated and understanding the game up here (pointing to his head), while also getting out there and doing the practical work as well.”

It appears those entrusted with hitting the big scores have unsurprisingly soaked up Lara’s input, with the one-man run machine adding: “They’ve welcomed the fact that I’m able to give my experience in all departments of the game.

“What I really want to see, especially in the batting order, is that the team is more prolific in terms of their run-scoring; getting bigger scores, getting runs much more regularly and creating more match-winners inside the group, with less dependency on any one or two players. That’s going to be key.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com