New Delhi, Dec 16 (IANS): Former West Indies skipper and cricketing great Brian Lara on Monday met President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Informing about the meet, the official Twitter handle of the President informed: "Legendary cricketer and one of the finest batsmen of the modern era, Brian Lara called on President Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan."

"The President called him a role model for millions of budding sportspersons and hailed his contribution to the game of cricket," the post read sharing an image of the former cricketer and the President.

Earlier, Lara had said West Indies opener Shai Hope, who scored a magnificent hundred in the first ODI which West Indies won by eight wickets against India, is the "best option" available in the Caribbean team capable of performing in all the three formats of the game.

"Presently, I think Shai Hope is the best option we have in terms of a batsman who can play all formats. He is not a bad attacking player, pretty much a decent Test player. He will stand out," Lara had told IANS.

On Sunday, Hope scored an unbeaten 102 and alongside Shimron Hetmyer (139 off 106) stitched together a 218-run partnership as Windies chased down the 288-run target with ease in Chennai and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.