VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman Biography

Watching VVS Laxman bat alongside the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni was like watching a Rock concert one moment and Beethoven the next. Laxman brought gentleness to his craft; he caressed the ball with velvety wrists that mocked field settings. VVS was a puritan, yet he could be audacious. If Viv Richards bludgeoned balls pitched outside the off stump by imperiously orbiting them over midwicket, VVS used his supple wrists to coax the ball to along the greens in a wide arc between long-leg and long-on.

If Mariah Carey could get her legs insured for $1 billion and Jennifer Lopez insured her posterior for $300 million, then Laxman’s magical wrists was definitely worth a few million dollars. The wrists that created a surreal experience at the batting crease seemed like heirloom, handed over to him by another Hyderabadi artist, Mohammad Azharuddin, almost equally brilliant but certainly not up to his successor’s standards.

Unlike his more glamorous contemporaries, there was never a special sobriquet to anoint Laxman. That was perhaps the tragedy of his cricketing career. If not better, Laxman was as good as Dravid playing under pressure — a master in crisis management. And the tour de force of his career was his 281 against Australia at Kolkata in 2001 when his jugalbandi with Dravid helped India win by 171 runs after following 274 behind.

It’s no secret that the mighty Australians under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting feared Laxman more than Tendulkar. That is saying a lot. Laxman had also launched a furious onslaught against the same opposition at SCG a year before the 281, scoring 167 out of a team score of 261; and scored an outrageous 32 at Bloemfontein that John Wright called the best thirty he had seen.

Between 2000 and 2011, Laxman remained extremely consistent, but one poor series in Australia in 2011-12 saw critics baying for his blood. He was selected for the two-Test home series against New Zealand when he called it a day and bypassed the opportunity to say farewell in front his hometown fans in Hyderabad — no doubt saddened by the mounting criticism against his selection.

How will the cricketing world remember Laxman? As Very Very Special, to borrow a quote from Ian Chappell.

H Natarajan

VVS Laxman Batting & Fielding Averages

Career	M	In	R	NO	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Test	134	225	8781	34	281	45.97	17785	49.37	17	56	1135	5	135	0
ODIs	86	83	2338	7	131	30.76	3282	71.23	6	10	222	4	39	0
T20s	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

VVS Laxman Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	134	324	126	2	63.00	2.333	162	0	0	1/2	1/2
ODIs	86	42	40	0	--	5.714	--	0	0	0/1	0/1
T20s	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
World Cup	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		0/1

VVS Laxman Career statistics

News ON VVS Laxman

CoA preparing ‘white paper’ to implement conflict of interest guidelines: Diana Edulji

A major issue faced by the cricketers is pertaining to dual roles -- player-commentator, commentator-IPL-franchise staff, ...

Conflict of interest: Former cricketers to meet in Mumbai on Monday; Laxman, Dravid expected to attend meeting

Several top cricketers are expected to attend the meeting in the presence of at least one Committee of Administrators (CoA) member. ...

Would love to see Krunal Pandya get a chance in ODIs too: VVS Laxman

Krunal won the Player of the Series award for his three wickets and 67 runs in the T20I series.

Rahul Dravid gets notice for conflict of interest

BCCI's Ombudsman-cum-Ethics Officer Justice (Retd) DK Jain has sent a notice after receiving a complaint from Madhya Pradesh Cricket ...

WV Raman’s appointment to be finally reviewed by BCCI ombudsman

The Committee of Administrators has asked the BCCI ethics officer to review the appointment of national women's team head coach WV Raman.

‘No that’s not the right way to play’ – Ganguly reveals how difficult it was to convince India teammates to sledge opponents

Sourav Ganguly says that there were "too many gentlemen" when he captained India, joking that's why his side struggled with mental battles.

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Features ON VVS Laxman

Engineer’s warmth, Ganguly’s coldness, Laxman’s embrace: India’s love-hate relationship with Old Trafford

Lancashire's three biggest Indian signings were all pretty contrasting.

Tendulkar, Laxman dragged into Conflict of Interest saga

In his email to the BCCI Ombudsman, Gupta, a life member of the MPCA alleged that Tendulkar and Laxman are in breach of Rule 38 of the ...

How many times have India won ODI series deciders?

Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Dinesh Mongia and Amit Mishra have all helped India win series.

Best of India in Australia: Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman script historic win at Adelaide

Chasing a target of 233, Rahul Dravid showed his class and remained unbeaten on 72 to finish of the game by hitting the winning runs as ...

Best of India in Australia: VVS Laxman arrives with 167 at the SCG

Not since Ian Botham has there been a tormentor of Australians like Laxman, and Sydney was where it all began.

Best of India in Australia: Ajit Agarkar swings India to memorable win at Adelaide

Ajit Agarkar bowled a match-winning spell of 6/41 at Adelaide Oval in India’s famous win against Australia in 2003-04.

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