‘You're putting everyone to sleep’ – Ricky Ponting recalls Brian Lara scoring a century after he sledged the left-hander

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting recalled an incident when sledging Brian Lara backfired big time on the Aussies. Both Lara and Punter, as Ponting is better known, are currently a part of the commentary panel in the 2020-21 edition of the Big Bash League. On New Year’s Eve, the duo was present, speaking on the match between Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers on Thursday.

Ponting went down the memory lane when he tried to ruffle Lara, who was a tad subdued in his approach while batting. After Ponting tried to get under his skin, the Trinidadian fired on all cylinders and racked up a century in the Test at the Adelaide Oval. Later, the now 51-year-old Lara also signed Ponting’s jersey and thanked him for inspiring him.

Ricky Ponting turns back the clock

“We were playing a Test match in Adelaide, and he literally wasn’t playing a shot. He’d been going on for like 30-40 balls. And I said to him, ‘you’re setting the place alight today, Brian. You’re absolutely creaming them mate.

“You’re putting everyone to sleep.’ An hour and a half later, he was on 180 not out. And at the end of the game, he signed his shirt and wrote, ‘thanks for the inspiration. Best wishes, Brian Lara’,” Ponting was quoted as saying during commentary.

Lara has an impressive record in Tests while playing in Adelaide. In his very first Test innings at the venue, he managed 52 runs back in 1993. Then in 1997, he got 78 runs in the second innings. Three years later in 2000, he racked up 182 runs, though the West Indies lost the match by five wickets.

In 2005, the legendary Lara notched a score of 226 runs on the board with 22 fours, playing at a strike-rate of 75.84. Yet again, the Caribbean team ended up on the losing side, that time by seven wickets. In four Tests in Adelaide, Lara scored 610 runs at an average of 76.25.

Even after 13 years following his retirement, Lara remains as the only batsman to have had an individual score of 400 in Test cricket. Combining Tests and ODIs, Lara hammered over 21,000 runs with 53 tons and 111 fifties.