Well, these are too early days to compare the young sensation of West Indies with one of the legendary batsman of the game. Shai Hope, who is still in very young days of his career has lot to achieve to make himself at the place of this comparison.
Here we have discussed on few factors that will determine Hope’s
Techniques
Technically speaking, Brian Lara was unique from any other batsman in the world. And Shai Hope is a rare gem that can produce the delicate shots in cricket with absolute timing and beauty.
I think Shai Hope has to play many match-winning Test knocks to show the strength of his technique. As of now, Shai Hope’s technique is nowhere near to Brian Charles Lara.
Range of shots
Name any shot from the book, Lara used to have his own version of every one of them. As mentioned earlier, Hope is someone who loves playing through the downtown. Even though he has those extraordinary shots to the square leg and point regions, he plays it rarely.
Since Hope is in the early stage of his career, he will definitely find the urge to produce shots all around the ground. And we are sure that he can add more elegance to those shots when he produces it.
Consistency
In terms of consistency, the Barbadian cricketer has been great in ODI cricket. Particularly the last two years, in which he managed 875 and 1345 runs at the end of the calendar years of 2018 and 2019 respectively.
In Test, Hope still needs to find a better way for consistency because it has turned out to be the only thing that can rescue the West Indies from the crisis in Tests, which Lara had done exceedingly well during his period.
You cannot compare Hope with Lara. It is a long road for Hope to be on the shoes of Lara. To be frank, it takes an unbelievable commitment from the Barbadian batsman to go near the milestones achieved by Lara.
But if you ask whether Hope can create an impact like Lara?
Then the answer will be yes if Hope can come over the difficult hurdles.
Lara has become an emotion for the Windies. He entertained the spectators with his magical double, triple and quadruple centuries in Tests.
To make that so, Shai Hope must bring in his utmost effort and commitment. Right now, winning matches for his team will be the most significant impact he could make.
