Viv Richards inspired me to be the cricketer I'm today: Brian Lara

Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara on Wednesday shared a picture with Vivan Richards and said that the latter inspired him to be the cricketer he is today.

Lara shared a picture of himself alongside the statue of Viv Richards in Antigua and captioned the post as "Trust me, he looks better in person. This man inspired me to be the cricketer I am today #legend #sirvivrichards @ivivianrichards".

The 67-year-old Richards is still viewed as one of the best players to have stepped out on the field. He was the vital cog in Windies' invincible lineup during the 1980s.

Richards scored 8,540 runs in 121 Test matches and managed to register 6,721 runs in the ODI format at an average of 47.

Lara had announced his retirement from international cricket in 2007. He finished his career with 22,358 runs and 53 international centuries.

The 50-year-old Lara has recorded the highest individual score in Test cricket as he played a knock of 400 runs against England in 2004.

He also holds the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, as he scored 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994.

Lara also shares the test record of scoring the highest number of runs in a single over in a Test match. He smashed South Africa's Robin Peterson of South Africa for 28 runs in a single over in 2003.

The left-handed Lara played 131 Tests and 299 ODIs for West Indies. He managed to score 11,953 runs in the longest format of the game while he registered 10,405 runs in the 50-over format.