Published: Jan 27, 2011, 09:02 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 25, 2014, 11:10 PM (IST)
By Angshuman Hazra
VVS Laxman, Indian mainstay in the middle-order, scored two handy knocks of 38 and 96 in the Durban Test and in the process helped his team set a 300-plus fourth innings target for hosts South Africa on a seamer-friendly track. South Africa scored a paltry 131 in their 1st innings as the Indian bowling attack rose above their perceived capabilities under spearhead Zaheer Khan.
As the match closed out, doubts crept into my mind as to which was the more important contribution of the two: Laxman twice leading the batting in a decisive match, or Zaheer doing a Moses by transforming a bowling attack that had conceded 620 runs for 3 wickets in the 1st Test to taking 10 wickets for 131 in the space of just one Test.
It was unparalleled. Zaheer’s role in that improvement is undeniable. However, that bowling turnaround was a team achievement led by Zaheer Khan. Part of it was inspiration from his return to the playing 11, and the team performance was not wholly dependent on his individual on-field performance. The win was achieved through sterling bowling performances of Zaheer as well as others, at least one of whom was statistically as good as Zaheer in match performance. Zaheer was also overtaken by Dale Steyn as the highest wicket-taker for the match in either side.
This is where Laxman is streets ahead of all competition. Like Zaheer, Laxman too inspired good innings from those who came into bat after him. But Laxman, as the cliché goes, was Very, Very Special.
Laxman’s score of 96 was more than double the next highest individual score on either side – 39 by Ashwell Prince in the SA 2nd innings. Laxman’s first innings score of 38 was also the 3rd highest score. His match aggregate (134) exceeded South Africa’s 1st innings total.
Awesome figures, but not quite unexpected from a man who, for a decade, has been rewriting favourable historic scripts for India in many matches and series well after the world unwisely makes predictions to the contrary.
(Angshuman Hazra is a regular-turned-intermittent cricket blogger from the engineering profession. He loves to dwell between the little intriguing scripts revealed in passages of play and the amazingly unexpected stats thrown up by cricket from time to time. Once harbouring a dream of opening the bowling in whites for India, he still believes he can qualify for his department squad in office with a player pool of 13″)
