Honoured to be overtaken by Sachin, says Lara

Canberra, Oct 22 (IANS) West Indies batting legend Brian Lara feels honoured to be overtaken by Sachin Tendulkar as the leading run scorer in Tests.

Tendulkar surpassed Lara's record Friday in the second Test against Australia in Mohali to become the highest scorer with 12,037 Test runs. It took him 152 Tests and 247 innings at an average of 54.03 against Lara's 131 Tests.

'I definitely thought it would be broken. To be considered in the same group as Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar, now Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting in the future, it's a great feeling and something I'm very proud to achieve,' Lara was quoted as saying by Canberra Times.

Lara, who retired in 2006, said holding the record for two years was satisfying.

'To hold it for a couple of years is fine, and I've got a couple of more records in the bag so hopefully I can hold on to them a bit longer. I have had my opportunity, to get there and hold it is great in itself, I am just happy it was a player like Sachin who passed it,' he said.