There are these 3 cricketers. They are like my friends since I have grown up with them. This post is about one of them.
The time is around 95 - 96, and I have started watching and undestanding cricket. Azhar, Sachin, Kumble were already well into their careers. They all mean a lot to me but these 3 other cricketers are more special. Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman. I have seen their careers start and bloom and now end. (Yes Ganguly made his ODI debut much earlier, don't disturb the stream of thoughts with your nitpickings). I can almost sum my school life, college life and work life as a series of milestone innings these gentlemen played. Laxman is the last one of my really close friends to bid me farewell, and he is the one I am probably not going to see much after this since I can't see him becoming a tv personality after retirement which Ganguly already is and Dravid can easily become. Laxman is like that one nice guy we have known and considered fortunate to be friends with. Unlike his other compatriots, he hardly ever does anything flashy on or off the cricket field. You never see him play a wild shot or a picture of him letting his hair down at a party or as is the norm for all star cricketers in the country, feature in an ad. No, he is just a simple lovable friend with whom you share a lot of fond memories.
My journey with Laxman started in 1996 when I heard that another Hyderabadi who is an Azhar clone is doing great in the Ranji trophy making big scores consistently and will soon be a part of the team. The time came against South Africa in the first test at Ahmedabad. You know India are in trouble when the match is stopped for crowd throwing bottles on the ground. This match had reached that stage. With just Laxman and the tail at the crease and India only 70 runs ahead, the match seemed to be heading for an early end. But VVS wasn't the 2nd innings God and India's greatest ever crisis man by fluke. He had it in his first test match itself, at the age of 22. He strung together crucial partnerships with Joshi, Kumble and Srinath to give India something to play for with a lead of 170. Srinath then famously destroyed the South African batting with six wickets for a famous Indian win. Laxman had arrived, or had he? With Ganguly back in the side and an indifferent performance in the 2nd test, Laxman was quickly dropped. This was a formidable Indian middle order and the only way in to the side was through a door which read makeshift openers. Laxman agreed regretfully but never got any real success at that position. His footwork wasn't great against the new ball and I have a lasting image of him in my mind getting out leg before or bowled against a moving ball.
Back in the Ranji trophy, Laxman continued to make an insane amount of runs. In 1999/2000 season he seemed to get a 100 every innings and double, triple hundreds for fun. He scored a highest of 353 and a staggering 1415 runs thats season which is still a Ranji Trophy record. The only reason Hyderabad couldn't win the final against Mumbai that year was Laxman getting run out in the first innings and Hyderabad conceding a first innings lead.
At one point then he took a decision which I honestly felt wasn't a smart one at that time. He refused to open the batting and decided to sit out of the Indian squad until there is a place for him in the middle order. Finally and ironically, his idol Azhar's slot got vacated after the match fixing fiasco and Laxman for the first time after his debut got to bat in the middle order. Words simply don't do justice to that innings against Australia at Kolkata in 2001. It was a batting orgasm which lasted a whole day. Frankly, I am still recovering from that knock till this day. If someone tells me that the innings was a hoax, I might believe him. Laxman was a batting superstar now. His decision to wait for a middle order slot was vindicated. Heck if they aren't already talking about it in a case study in some B-school, then I question the collective intelligence of global academia. He took a risk by letting go of one opportunity and waiting for the next which may have never come. when the opportunity did arrive, he grabbed it with both hands and both legs and continued groping and violating it for 3 sessions until the opportunity was his bitch. Many years later Kumble talked about the long process which lead to India becoming the number 1 test side. This my friends, was the start of that process. India continued to show bouncebackability for the next 10 years and Laxman continued to epitomize this quality.
Numbers can't do justice to Laxman's character and artistry. If numbers were the sole measure of greatness then <Digression start>Salman Khan is easily bigger than Kamal Hasan, Dilip Kumar, Mohanlal and every other great Indian actor combined.<Digression end>. Laxman's record though since his come back to middle order in 2001 is formidable. He averages 49 plus in over a hundred tests. Considering that he so often ran out of partners and had to bat with the tail, the number is quite phenomenal. Though his real value for the team was in refusing to identify an imminent defeat. Tough pitches, great bowlers will continue to get the best out of him. Many a words have been written about his wristy stroke play but they hide the steely grit which was the real mark of Laxman.
And so it ended yesterday, not with a bang but with a whimper. Never a man to hog the limelights, this shy Hyderabadi preferred to quitely walk away like a real Man. No farewells. No good bye. No see you later. Just walking away quitely in to the sunset. Good Bye old friend. I have reason enough to believe that your second innings will always be better than the first one.
Some Very Very Special facts:
The time is around 95 - 96, and I have started watching and undestanding cricket. Azhar, Sachin, Kumble were already well into their careers. They all mean a lot to me but these 3 other cricketers are more special. Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman. I have seen their careers start and bloom and now end. (Yes Ganguly made his ODI debut much earlier, don't disturb the stream of thoughts with your nitpickings). I can almost sum my school life, college life and work life as a series of milestone innings these gentlemen played. Laxman is the last one of my really close friends to bid me farewell, and he is the one I am probably not going to see much after this since I can't see him becoming a tv personality after retirement which Ganguly already is and Dravid can easily become. Laxman is like that one nice guy we have known and considered fortunate to be friends with. Unlike his other compatriots, he hardly ever does anything flashy on or off the cricket field. You never see him play a wild shot or a picture of him letting his hair down at a party or as is the norm for all star cricketers in the country, feature in an ad. No, he is just a simple lovable friend with whom you share a lot of fond memories.
My journey with Laxman started in 1996 when I heard that another Hyderabadi who is an Azhar clone is doing great in the Ranji trophy making big scores consistently and will soon be a part of the team. The time came against South Africa in the first test at Ahmedabad. You know India are in trouble when the match is stopped for crowd throwing bottles on the ground. This match had reached that stage. With just Laxman and the tail at the crease and India only 70 runs ahead, the match seemed to be heading for an early end. But VVS wasn't the 2nd innings God and India's greatest ever crisis man by fluke. He had it in his first test match itself, at the age of 22. He strung together crucial partnerships with Joshi, Kumble and Srinath to give India something to play for with a lead of 170. Srinath then famously destroyed the South African batting with six wickets for a famous Indian win. Laxman had arrived, or had he? With Ganguly back in the side and an indifferent performance in the 2nd test, Laxman was quickly dropped. This was a formidable Indian middle order and the only way in to the side was through a door which read makeshift openers. Laxman agreed regretfully but never got any real success at that position. His footwork wasn't great against the new ball and I have a lasting image of him in my mind getting out leg before or bowled against a moving ball.
Back in the Ranji trophy, Laxman continued to make an insane amount of runs. In 1999/2000 season he seemed to get a 100 every innings and double, triple hundreds for fun. He scored a highest of 353 and a staggering 1415 runs thats season which is still a Ranji Trophy record. The only reason Hyderabad couldn't win the final against Mumbai that year was Laxman getting run out in the first innings and Hyderabad conceding a first innings lead.
At one point then he took a decision which I honestly felt wasn't a smart one at that time. He refused to open the batting and decided to sit out of the Indian squad until there is a place for him in the middle order. Finally and ironically, his idol Azhar's slot got vacated after the match fixing fiasco and Laxman for the first time after his debut got to bat in the middle order. Words simply don't do justice to that innings against Australia at Kolkata in 2001. It was a batting orgasm which lasted a whole day. Frankly, I am still recovering from that knock till this day. If someone tells me that the innings was a hoax, I might believe him. Laxman was a batting superstar now. His decision to wait for a middle order slot was vindicated. Heck if they aren't already talking about it in a case study in some B-school, then I question the collective intelligence of global academia. He took a risk by letting go of one opportunity and waiting for the next which may have never come. when the opportunity did arrive, he grabbed it with both hands and both legs and continued groping and violating it for 3 sessions until the opportunity was his bitch. Many years later Kumble talked about the long process which lead to India becoming the number 1 test side. This my friends, was the start of that process. India continued to show bouncebackability for the next 10 years and Laxman continued to epitomize this quality.
Numbers can't do justice to Laxman's character and artistry. If numbers were the sole measure of greatness then <Digression start>Salman Khan is easily bigger than Kamal Hasan, Dilip Kumar, Mohanlal and every other great Indian actor combined.<Digression end>. Laxman's record though since his come back to middle order in 2001 is formidable. He averages 49 plus in over a hundred tests. Considering that he so often ran out of partners and had to bat with the tail, the number is quite phenomenal. Though his real value for the team was in refusing to identify an imminent defeat. Tough pitches, great bowlers will continue to get the best out of him. Many a words have been written about his wristy stroke play but they hide the steely grit which was the real mark of Laxman.
And so it ended yesterday, not with a bang but with a whimper. Never a man to hog the limelights, this shy Hyderabadi preferred to quitely walk away like a real Man. No farewells. No good bye. No see you later. Just walking away quitely in to the sunset. Good Bye old friend. I have reason enough to believe that your second innings will always be better than the first one.
Some Very Very Special facts:
- In the era of professionalism in cricket, Laxman just focused on his batting and didn't have a player agent.
- Do a google image search for VVS Laxman, look at his bat. Anything peculiar? The bat only has the bat makers name. Unlike most other Indian batsmen, VVS very seldom had a bat sponsor!
- Laxman's parents were doctors, they obviously either had him genetically mutated, or replaced his wrists with rubber at an early age.
2 comments:
Very well written for a very very special cricketer indeed. As I read elsewhere - he finally retired "hurt".
very well written indeed.
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