ভিভিএস লক্ষ্মণ

VVS Laxman's name will forever be associated with his finest innings in Test match cricket -- a silken smooth 281 to revive India and complete a comeback-from-death victory against Steve Waugh's all conquering Australians at the Eden Gardens in 2001. Before that match, Laxman had a stop-start career with the Indian team, debuting as a middle-order batsman then being pushed into the opener's spot, before announcing that he would no longer open the innings.

It was a courageous, and ultimately correct decision as the numbers also bear out: Laxman has averaged only 28.54 as an opener, but 48.44 in the middle order.

At his best though, Laxman makes numbers seem almost superfluous, such is the artistry he brings to batting. With the delicate touch of a surgeon, he bisects gaps that fielders never though were there, creates angles that bowlers thought they had cut off, and releases pressure that the opponents thought they had under an air-tight lid.

He has often batted with the lower-middle order and the lower order, thereby being deprived of the chance to build longer innings, but whenever he has been given an opportunity he has flowered.

His record against the best team of his time, Australia, has been outstanding, with most of his masterpieces being conjured against them. He has scored almost double the runs against Australia than he has against any other team.

With a star-studded Indian middle order, and a host of talent waiting in the wings, Laxman has often found his place under question after merely one or two failures, but each time he has responded with an innings of class under pressure. That he has managed to do so successfully for a decade and more was testified by the fact that he joined a select number of players who have played a 100 Test matches for India.

However, Laxman's ODI figures do not do justice to his vast batting talent, though he has never been given the extended run that some less gifted players enjoyed in the shorter format.

When on song, it has not mattered whether Laxman was playing a 5-day, 1-day or 3-hour game -- he has always shredded the bowling to pieces, while never playing an ugly shot. His fielding and running between the wickets were held against him though, and one of the regrets of an outstanding career remains his not being picked for a single World Cup tournament.

The disappointments fade though, when put alongside his achievements. And though he might not have played in a World Cup match, he will always remain the man who played India's greatest ever innings in any form of cricket.

He played for the Deccan Chargers since the inception of the IPL in 2008 till 2010. He was then bought by Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011 and never played the IPL since then.

Laxman suffered a dip in form in his final season - the one in 2011/12 - where India were whitewashed in England and Australia. He was picked in the squad for the subsequent home Tests against New Zealand, but surprisingly announced his retirement even without playing the first Test in Hyderabad - his home city.

He then became a TV commentator apart from being the mentor of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The Indian Government honoured him with the Padma Shri award in 2011 and was also named one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in 2002.

by Cricbuzz Staff