Australian Ricky Ponting has acclaimed the batting geniuses of Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar and called the Indian "the most technically correct player".
"I've enjoyed the battles along the way with Brian as well. He's a very competitive guy," Ponting told reporters on Friday.
"The thing that people don't think much about Brian Lara is that he basically had the weight of the whole team on his shoulders for the best part of 10 years now and had to carry their batting and win them games almost by himself.
"That sort of pressure going into every game and for him to be able to stand up and perform is something that should never be overlooked," said Ponting, himself one of the greatest players of the contemporary era
"I've always thought that he and Sachin have been the two greatest batsmen that I've ever played against and probably for different reasons," he mused
"Brian (Lara) has got the ability to turn it on when he wants and take you apart and Sachin has probably been the most technically correct player that I have seen along the way."
Matthew Hayden, who scored 380 in 2003 to break Lara's then world record for the highest score of 375, had also words of praise for West Indies captain's genius.
"Brian is probably unheralded as far as a batting technique goes. He's got an unusual, unorthodox type of technique which makes bowlers look embarrassed at times," Hayden said.
"I love the way he manipulates the field and it's a pretty sad day for cricket because he is obviously a tremendous ambassador for the game. No one probably has achieved as much as Brian has either so it's a sad day."
Lara, who recaptured the record for the highest Test score with 400 not out against England in 2004, announced he would quit international cricket following his team's final match of the World Cup Saturday in Barbados.
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