Ultimately the change that should have been engineered out of plan following the surrender of the #1 Test ranking has been brought about any way by the retirements of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
India attaining the #1 ranking changed a few things. Expectations among one. A #1 team is expected to draw, win and even lose Test Matches differently than a middle of the rung team. When the very batsmen that made us the best were found so breathless away from home, used bad 'luck' and injury to a key bowler as legitimate analytic tools, they had; in my books; run out of time, ideas and respect as far as their careers were concerned.
With the announcement of VVS Laxman to retire, the last of the men who lent mystique and an old fashioned charm to this Indian team, despite the gross commercialization associated with is cricket, is gone.
His 8000 odd career runs in 134 Tests, seems positively paltry in comparison to the mountain of runs scored by Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid and yet without his contributions both Sachin's and Rahul's careers would have been less illustrious than they eventually were.
His contributions were never about how much more they could have been, rather how pedestrian India's record would have been without them. That two most prolific batsmen of all time would have yet ended up being part of an average team, had it not been for VVS Laxman. In that lies Laxman's true value. It is easy to miss the forest for the trees and only see the numerous times he produced duds; but his career was about producing those rare gems that lay beyond the combined capacities of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.
"Apan tere ko doich mara....lekin solid mara ke nahi..." One of my favorite dialogues from one of the best comedies I have watched; Amar Akbar Anthony....If VVS had a bit of Anthony in him, this was a line for him and his career.
The premiere rivalry cricket enjoyed between India and Australia; without VVS Laxman; would have been non existent. An entire rivalry for over a decade had its foundations in that innings, that partnership. It changed the equation for India and the world. A lead of 200+ is no longer an automatic follow-on. Every time a team ends up with a lead of 200, a captain will account for the possibility of that innings at the Eden Gardens before he asks the opposition to follow-on.
In theory it is quite possible to find his replacement to score the amount of runs he made at the average he made them at. 17 Test 100s is not a great many 100s. Suresh Raina can easily notch up the kind of numbers VVS Laxman did but can anyone produce a marathon innings following on, can anyone will the tail-enders to hang on for an improbable chase?
Its unlikely.
6 comments:
VVS will be remembered for his style,grace and dedication. He always played for the country and not for records-his hallmark is quality not quantity.LONG LIVE VVS
VVS was all class all along and even his retirement announcement, though sad had his stamp on it. It's unfortunate that his exit had to have this cloud over it. The selectors have screwed up by picking stop gap Badrinath to replace him. Did his being from Srikkanth's home state have anything to do with it?
Apan tere ko doich mara....lekin solid mara ke nahi... Solid Gold !
Great Player VVS laxman..for india
I was reading the comment by Shayari and I have to say that he is so right about VVS, and his style, grace and especially dedication will be in our memories for many years
Great ambassador of cricket ..
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