Why Laxman isn’t the demi-god that Dravid, Tendulkar & Ganguly are?

While Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly became demi-gods in a cricket crazy nation, VVS Laxman never quite attained the same status. Despite doing the near impossible a number of times, a question mark always remained over his head after a failure or two. Nishad Pai Vaidya attempts to explain Laxman’s predicament. 

While Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly became demi-gods in a cricket crazy nation, VVS Laxman never quite attained the same status. Despite doing the near impossible a number of times, a question mark always remained over his head after a failure or two. Nishad Pai Vaidya attempts to explain Laxman’s predicament. 

 

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In the face of numerous adversities, it was VVS Laxman’s elegant and artistic batting that steered India through troubled waters and defied the odds to pull of remarkable heists. That a player of such quality – one who has amassed 8781 runs – never became the No 1-ranked batsman in Test cricket is astonishing. His more illustrious countrymen – Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid – spent considerable amount of time at the top, an honour that eluded Laxman throughout his career.

 

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Twitter on Monday that Laxman holds the record for the most runs scored without ever being No 1. Despite the numerous match-winning performances and being the sentinel of the Indian batting, Laxman could never wear the coveted crown. If one goes through Laxman’s career graph, one would find that he hasn’t been as consistent as a Dravid or a Tendulkar. This may be the major factor in him never touching the pinnacle of the Test rankings. What is more astonishing is that he was never given a Dravid or Sourav Ganguly-like status in a cricket-crazy nation.

 

Laxman’s introduction into Test cricket wasn’t as spectacular as Ganguly’s or Dravid’s. He managed to score a fifty on debut, but failed to strike consistency. It took him more than three years to score his first hundred – a breathtaking 167 against Australia at Sydney. Until that game, Laxman had played 16 Tests spread over three years and averaged only 24.07.

 

The unforgettable home series against Australia in 2001 made Laxman a hero. The epic 281 at Kolkata is probably the one of the greatest innings in the history of Test cricket. Following on, Laxman faced a brilliant bowling attack and converted a lost cause into a winnable situation. That was the stuff of legends and it set the tone for his career in the years to come.

 

Despite the extraordinary peaks in his career graph, there were slumps that spoilt his numbers (included his initial struggle). A career average of 45.97 doesn’t reflect the kind of impact he has had on Indian cricket. Somewhere, his bad patches have been egregious – a real struggle that has nearly pushed him to the brink. When on song he looked sublime, but it was a pain to watch him struggle.

 

While Dravid and Tendulkar could be persisted with even when they struggled, Laxman wasn’t as fortunate. In fact, he was left out of the side for two Tests when England toured India in 2006. In Bangladesh (2007), Laxman had to sit out to make way for the extra bowler.

 

Interestingly, if one compares the respective slumps of Dravid and Laxman, one would find that there isn’t much to chose. Laxman’s form dropped in 2004 and he regained his touch in 2006. On the other hand, Dravid’s poor run started in December 2006 and ended in late 2008.
Here are the stats of their respective poor runs:

 

Player	Time span	      M	Runs	Avg	100s	50s
Rahul Dravid	Dec 2006 – Jan 2009	     27	1460	31.06	3	7
VVS Laxman	Mar 2004 – Jun 2006	     25	1041	31.54	2	6

 

It is evident from this table that Dravid and Laxman’s struggles were very similar. Both averaged around 31 during their lean runs. However, the pressure on Dravid during his tough phase wasn’t as intense as it was on Laxman. Dravid’s position wasn’t questioned as he was “The Wall” and the man with the near perfect technique. On the other hand, Laxman had to bear the brunt of people questioning his ability even when he had been crucial in numerous wins.

 

As Vincent Sunder had described in an article in November 2011, Laxman is dependable but dispensable. It is worth noting that a failure or two always put Laxman’s position in a shadow. It wasn’t the think-tank, but the ordinary cricket fan who questioned his position in team. Here was the same man who would be the lone standing warrior when others fell, a man who stood up against the best side in his era and emerged stronger. Yet, people were searching for “better” alternatives.

 

Laxman’s predicament may have not entirely be due to cricketing reasons. In a country that idolises its cricketing stars, Laxman wasn’t the most visible. He was never made into a hero that a Ganguly, a Dravid or a Tendulkar were portrayed. While these players featured in numerous advertisements and became a part of people’s households even when there weren’t any tours, Laxman was conspicuous by his absence. The cultured cricket fan may have valued him, but the ordinary one on the streets may not have appreciated his worth.

 

Fitness was another big issue that marred Laxman’s career. The Hyderabadi was never quick on the field or during running between the wickets. It was those crafty wrists and immaculate timing that made up for all those shortcomings. Ganguly, too, was never the quickest, but possessed a bravado that appealed to people. Laxman’s nature is cool, calm and collected. Like a Shakespearean flaw, his fitness haunted him and remained a question mark for a majority of his career.

 

From the New Zealand tour of 2009 to the end of the West Indies tour of 2011, he averaged 62.96, clear 16 notches higher than his career average. It was in England last year, that the big slide started that threatens to draw the curtain on his career. The current situation is very different from the previous ones as age has caught up and India have to move on from the golden era. Such has been the scenario that even some esteemed ex-cricketers had called for his axing for the final Test in Australia.

 

Alas, a torrid tour of Australia is the coup de grace. The fact that he struggled to make runs in a country where he had essayed epics is a signal that the time has come to bid goodbye. This may be the end of the imperfect hero of Indian cricket.

 

(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a club-level cricketer with an analytic mind and a sharp eye. It was this sharpness which spotted a wrong replay in IPL4 resulting in Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissal. Some of his analytical pieces have come in for high praise from cerebral former cricketers. Nishad can also be followed on Twitter)

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