91: VVS Laxman

134 matches. 8781 runs @ 45.97. 17 hundreds. Highest score: 281

17 years. 5x good. 1x excellent. 3x outstanding.

The discussion

Have you ever wondered why captains do not always seem to enforce the follow-on in the modern age? There are two reasons — Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

The second Test in Kolkata[3] of Australia’s 2001 tour to India was the scene for a gargantuan partnership between Laxman and Dravid that made history and forced captains around the world into rethinking their tactics around the follow-on (some say this has led to a less aggressive mindset) that persists even to this day. Batting first, Australia piled on 445, thanks to a century from Steve Waugh, 97 from Matthew Hayden and handy lower-order contributions from Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath. When India was bowled out for 171 in their first innings, the question about whether to enforce the follow-on looked to have an obvious answer. Australia was fresh off a 10-wicket victory in the first Test and India had thus far compiled totals of 176, 219 and 171 in the series. It was a no-brainer. Enforce the follow-on, bowl India out again in three or four sessions and move on to the third Test 2–0 up. Laxman had 59 to top all scorers in India’s first dig, but few could have anticipated what was to come.

India started positively, with Shiv Sunder Das and Sadogapan Ramesh making starts. But when Das fell with the score at 2/97, and then Sachin Tendulkar departed shortly after to make the score 3/115, it looked like the Test could be over in a hurry. Sourav Ganguly contributed a fighting 48, but Australia were still in the box seat at 4/232. Then Rahul Dravid joined VVS Laxman. What followed was 106 overs of pain and misery for the Australians, and a defining moment in the career of VVS Laxman. The pair batted together for over a day and, by the end of his innings, Laxman had made a career-best 281. Dravid contributed 180 of his own, as the two combined to produce a partnership of 376 for the 5th wicket. It was a truly incredible performance. Laxman showed that he belonged in the same breath as India’s ‘big three’ of Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly, and it remains the defining innings of his career.

India went on to claim an historic victory, in what I believe is the greatest comeback by a batting side in the history of Test cricket. Statistically (and perhaps anecdotally), there may be other contenders, but for me this sits at the top of the tree.

Laxman as a player was all elegance and class. Rather than bludgeon the ball, he caressed it into gaps. By using a suppleness and strength of the wrists, he was able to access almost any gap in the field in front of the wicket from any line of delivery. When he was in control, he was impossible to bowl to. It didn’t matter where you bowled the ball, he could manipulate it wherever he wanted to. I didn’t track boundary percentage while preparing the statistics used to create this Hall of Fame, but my gut tells me that Laxman’s percentage would be on the low side. So adept was he at finding open spaces, it hardly seemed necessary to find the fence.

As much pain as they inflicted on the Australians, Laxman and Tendulkar were my favourite Indian cricketers to watch. Seeing them bat together was something very special. It seems that judging by Laxman’s peak series, he enjoyed playing against Australia too! Chalk up some bonus points for success against Australia in Australia. That’s tough for Indian batters to adapt to those conditions and prosper.

Statistically, Laxman’s case revolves around his 8,781 runs (19th), and his 56 half centuries (8th). His conversion rate (17 centuries — 58th) and centuries per 100 innings (180th), however, are not stellar compared with the other candidates. In fact, Laxman’s ability (or inability) to convert fifties into hundreds hurts his case for a position higher in the list. If Laxman had scored 800 or so fewer runs — under that magical 8,000 mark — he might have found himself in a dogfight for his spot in the Hall of Fame.

The verdict

VVS Laxman finished his career with over 8,700 runs and the 8th most Test 50s of all time. He both entertained with his skill and tantalised with the promise of massive hundreds that all too often failed to materialise from his many half-centuries. Even so, his wristwork and elegance at the crease creates lasting memories for those who watched him. His statistical resume is augmented by his role in one of the greatest comebacks in the history of cricket.

For me, Laxman remains one of my favourite cricketers to have watched. As Binksy rightly points out on our podcast discussion, Laxman was not a man for all conditions or all opponents. But something about Australia brought out the best in VVS. I just loved watching his wristwork and the composure of his batting. He did it all with a smile — I’ve always thought he would be one that I would love to have as a teammate.

In one word

Silky

Bio

Record

Source: ESPN CricInfo

career peak

Sources: ESPN CricInfo