Brian Lara recalls how he started playing golf, says sport helped develop individualism

It’s been over 12 years since West Indies cricket legend Brian Lara stepped away from the cricket pitch but the sporting blood still runs in his veins. Except cricket bats have been replaced by golf clubs. In Mumbai for an event recently, Lara recalled how he started playing golf. “I remember we had a four-day match. I was playing for Trinidad and Tobago against the Leeward Islands. They had Winston Benjamin, Curtly Ambrose and Kenneth Benjamin. It was a green track, so the four-day game lasted just two days,” he said, adding that on the remaining two days, the group got together for a round of golf.

What is it about golf that draws so many cricketers to it? “When you play a team sport [like cricket] all your life, golf lets you get out there and show some individualism, in a sport where you are playing pretty much against nature. It’s a great way to get away from the pressures of team sports and having to travel around the world. It helped me a lot,” he said.