Flashback: Five very very special knocks from VVS Laxman

Born on 1st November 1974, VVS Laxman was one of the four pillars of Indian cricket in its golden era – alongside Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Destined to be a doctor, Laxman pursued his decision to play cricket wholeheartedly. Plundering runs for Hyderabad in domestic cricket, it didn’t take long for this wristy batsman to make a name for himself.

In an Indian team packed with batting talent, Laxman was initially trialled as an opener. But his best was reserved for the No. 6 spot. Despite spending a majority of his career in the lower middle order, Laxman accumulated 8,781 runs in 134 Tests at an average of 45.97 with 17 centuries. In 86 ODIs for India, he added 2,338 runs with six centuries. Laxman was a world-class slip fielder as his 135 Test catches suggest.

Here are his five most special knocks in Test cricket:

148 vs Australia – Adelaide, 2003

Only one Indian batting pair has managed to raise a 300-plus partnership twice in Test cricket. Both partnerships came against Australia and occupy a significant place in Indian cricket’s history. One of those two stands was raised at Adelaide in 2003.

Ricky Ponting’s spectacular 242 took Australia to a daunting first innings total of 556 runs. India tottered in reply and found themselves in a spot of bother at 85/4. Laxman joined Dravid for what turned out to be the ‘Kolkata encore’. The duo added 303 runs for the fifth wicket. With Dravid scoring 233, Laxman assumed a secondary role in his knock of 148 against the favourite foe. India went on to clinch a historic four-wicket win over the Kangaroos.

96 vs South Africa – Durban, 2010

India had lost the first Test of the series and needed to show fight in the second encounter to stay alive in the rubber. Graeme Smith won the toss and inserted India to bat on what Laxman later called one of the toughest wickets he had played on. Dale Steyn’s 6/50 jolted the visitors as they ended up with 204 all out. Zaheer Khan’s 3/36 and Harbhajan Singh’s 4/10 then earned India a lead of 73 runs.

The South African pacers once again brought the home side in contention with early blows. India were 48/3 when Laxman came out to bat. With Cheteshwar Pujara and Sachin Tendulkar falling, the visitors stumbled to 93/5. The Hyderabad wizard stood alone on the treacherous track to help his side gain a winning lead of 302 runs. His innings of 96 was an outlier in the Test where the next highest score was 39.

103* vs Sri Lanka – Colombo, 2010

India were trailing 0-1 going into the third and final Test of the series at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. Sri Lanka batted first in this encounter and posted a healthy total of 425 runs. MS Dhoni’s side replied with 436 which included a brisk 105-ball 109 from Virender Sehwag. Indian spinners then hit back on the turning deck by trapping Sri Lanka at 125/8. Thilan Samaraweera and Ajantha Mendis added 118 runs for the ninth wicket to set India a target of 257 runs.

Batting last in Sri Lanka is one of the toughest tasks in cricket. Suraj Randiv’s spin took out India’s top order. Laxman, battling a severe backache, came out to bat with the team in trouble at 62/4. In his autobiography ‘281 and beyond’, Laxman reveals that he wanted to bat with a runner but Sachin differed. Eventually, the pain got to him and he had to call a runner. With the back pain not allowing Laxman to bend, he played his shots standing tall. The barrage of boundaries conquered the Lankan bowlers and India chased down the target with a memorable 103* from Laxman.

73* vs Australia – Mohali, 2010

India needed 216 runs to win the Mohali Test and take 1-0 lead in the two-match series. By the end of the fourth day, Ben Hilfenhaus had wrecked the Indian top order, leaving them at 48/4. Due to severe backache, Laxman had been absent in the Australian innings, thus he could not bat higher than number seven. His struggle with back pain continued on the fifth day. At one stage, his participation was in doubt.

Putting mind over matter, Laxman came out to bat with Suresh Raina as his runner. Australia rushed through wickets at the other end, reducing India to 124/8. Ishant Sharma who had to take painkillers for his knee injury then joined Laxman in the middle. Ishant provided resolute support to his injured senior who kept accumulating runs. Pragyan Ojha’s chaotic innings at the end saw India claiming another miraculous win with Laxman taking centre stage.

281 vs Australia – Kolkata, 2001

Unarguably, this takes the cake for the most defining innings of Laxman’s career. Australia had won 16 Tests in a row. They had decimated India in the opening Test at Mumbai. At Eden Gardens, they recovered from 269/8 to post 445. Then Australia bowled out the hosts for only 171. The World Champions rightly enforced the follow-on, aiming to register an emphatic innings win which would also be their world-record 17th Test victory. And against these odds, Laxman played an innings that crushed the Australian dream and shook their very foundation.

Laxman’s top score of 59 in the first innings earned him a promotion at No.3 in the follow-on innings in place of the struggling Dravid. Batting fluently, Laxman kept one end up while India reached 254/4 by the end of the third day. The duo batted out the complete fourth day to thwart Australia’s victorious march. The Hyderabad batsman got out on 281 on the final morning of the match. This was the highest individual score by an Indian batsman in Test cricket at that point. India went on to pull off a miracle by becoming only the third side to win a Test after being asked to follow-on.

With the marathon knock, 281 became an iconic number in Indian cricket. Laxman himself remains extremely fond of his greatest-ever effort. His twitter handle is @VVSLaxman281 and his autobiography is titled ‘281 and beyond’.

#ThisDayThatYear in 2001 VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid scripted a historic Test comeback ever at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/pwRdgvSTQM

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 14, 2018