The Very Very Special art of remaining underrated forever

​A popular website dedicated to cricket took the effort to publish a list of 25 top cricketers of the present century. They compiled a list of 70 cricketers based on performances over the last 25 years and narrowed it down to 30 on their own. These 30 names were sent to an expert jury comprising of former international cricketers, who whittled it down to 25. The final list of cricketers selected by this jury was published over a week. Jacques Kallis, the all rounder extraordinaire from South Africa was chosen as the top cricketer, followed by Sachin Tendulkar at No.2, with Virat Kohli placed immediately behind him.

A jury of equal expertise was tasked with selecting the best T20 batsman and bowler during this period as well as the greatest woman cricketer. Elyse Perry was chosen as the greatest woman cricketer while AB de Villiers and Jasprit Bumrah were adjudged as the best T20 batsman and bowler respectively. 

The other Indian cricketers who figure in the list of top 25 players are Ravichandran Aswin (rank 25), Virender Sehwag (rank 22), Jasprit Bumrah (rank 15), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (rank 14) and Rahul Dravid (rank 12). Other cricketers who form part of this list are Ricky Ponting, Steven Smith, Adam Gilchrist, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins (all from Australia), Joe Root, James Anderson, Ben Stokes, Kevin Pietersen and Stuart Broad (all from England), Muthiah Muralidaran, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene (all from Sri Lanka), AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn (both from South Africa), Kane Williamson (New Zealand) and Chris Gayle (West Indies). Thus there are 7 from India, 5 each from Australia and England, 3 each from South Africa and Sri Lanka and one each from West Indies and New Zealand in this elite list. 

However, as in any such short list, the names of those who do not find a mention create more news than the ones who do. It is impossible to create a list which will satisfy everyone and cricket fans across the world will have their own opinion who should figure in it. When the legendary Gary Sobers announced his list of top 10 batsmen in the world in 1979, the only player from India who won a place was Sunil Gavaskar. Followers of the game in India were aghast to find the name of Gundappa Viswanath missing from this list, as they were conditioned to placing both these batsmen on an equal pedestal during the 1970s. What annoyed them more was the fact that Derek Randall, who was never considered an equal to either of them, found favour with Sobers and was ranked No.10! 

One notable exclusion in the present list is VVS Laxman. It will be an understatement to say that Laxman is one of the most underrated cricketers that India had produced. His contributions to Indian cricket have gone largely unrecognised. There is a tendency to limit the narrative around his career to the stupendous knock of 281 at Kolkata in 2001, when he scripted one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of the game. This is still rated as the best innings played by an Indian batsman in test cricket and merits inclusion in the short list of great batting performances of all time. 

A look at Laxman’s career shows that he was a very vital cog in India’s batting department from 2000 to 2010. Cricket establishment in the country suffered a severe shock at the turn of the present century on account of the match fixing scandal that broke out in April 2000. The fortunes of the game nosedived following revelations that some of the superstars and demigods had an unholy nexus with match fixing syndicates and the underworld. It was at a juncture when the basic faith and trust of the ordinary follower of the game in the sport had hit rock bottom and the performance of the national side was at its lowest ebb that Laxman strode in like a knight in shining armour with his innings of 281 and penned a new saga in the country’s cricket history.   

Laxman’s career was at the crossroads when he reached Kolkata to play the second test of the series against Australia in March 2001. He had made his debut in test cricket against South Africa at Ahmedabad in November 1996 and straightaway showed his mettle by hitting a half century in the second innings on a rapidly deteriorating pitch. But he went through a bad patch subsequently and lost his place in the side. Even a brief attempt to rehabilitate himself as an opening batsman did not yield results. It was only in the final test of the disastrous tour to Australia in 1999-2000 that he could come into his own as a batsman. Laxman himself confessed later that he knew that this was his last chance to come good in test cricket and hence went out and played without inhibition. His innings of 167 in the second innings of this test at Sydney out of an Indian total of 261 was one of the few bright spots of this series. 

It is often forgotten that Laxman’s contributions to Indian cricket go far beyond the innings of 281. India started winning test matches on foreign soil in a regular manner only from 2001 onwards and Laxman had an important role to play in almost all those victories. He was the Man of the Match when India defeated West Indies at Trinidad in 2002, for his knocks of unbeaten 69 and 74 in the two innings. In fact this was India’s first win on West Indian soil after 1976.  

Records show Rahul Dravid as the architect of India’s four wicket win over Australia at Adelaide in 2004. But Laxman’s contribution, when he partnered Dravid in a 303 run stand for the fifth wicket in the first innings of this test and helped the side recover after being 4 down for 85 at one stage, is usually forgotten. Laxman batted brilliantly to score a majestic 148, which effectively defanged the Aussie attack. He followed this up with another innings of 178 at Sydney in the final test of the series. 

India recorded their first ever win in a test in South Africa at Johannesburg in 2006. Though Sreesanth with his haul of 8 wickets was the hero, this victory was fashioned by superb batting by Laxman in the second innings when he scored 74, which incidentally was the highest individual score by an Indian batsman in this test. He chipped in with a gritty half century when India defeated England at Nottingham in 2007. In the fiercely contested series in Australia in 2007-08, Laxman again came to the rescue of the side with a knock of 79 in the second innings of the third test at Perth, which helped India to reach a total of 294. This proved to be the launchpad from which the bowlers took the side to a 60 run win. Laxman was the chosen as the Man of the Match when India defeated South Africa by 87 runs in the second test at Durban in December 2010, for his knock of 96 in the second innings. The fact that no other batsman from either side reached 50 runs shows the quality of his batting in extremely trying conditions.  

In India’s only one wicket win in test matches till date, it was Laxman who stood firm at one end and guided the side to a win. This was in the first test of the series against Australia at Mohali in 2010. Laxman suffered a spasm of the back muscle so severe that he could bat only at No.10 in the first innings and could not take the field at all when the Aussies batted a second time. He came with a runner at the fall of the fifth wicket and saw India slide to 124 for 8, chasing a victory target of 216. Braving severe pain, he batted with resolve and took the total to 205 when the ninth wicket fell. Despite losing his cool with last man Pragyan Ojha on one famous occasion, Laxman ensured that India crossed the winning post to seal a memorable win. 

Thus, Laxman was the batsman the side could depend upon to come to the rescue when the going got tough. His batting technique was flawless and he was a supreme stylist with the cricket bat, caressing the ball to the fence with scarcely any effort. He was a true successor to  Gundappa Viswanath for the manner in which he wielded the willow and his selfless approach to the game. Like the great Vishy, he too was given a raw deal by the selectors and experts, who took him for granted and never gave him his due. But he took all this in his stride and never breathed a word of complaint or protest.

Laxman’s tally of 8,781 runs at an average of 45.97 in 134 tests may pale in comparison with those of Tendulkar (15,921 runs at 53.78 from 200 tests) and Dravid (13,288 runs from 164 tests at 52.31). But there was never any doubt about his utility and value to the side. The Aussies, indisputably the strongest side in international cricket during this period, rated him as the best batsman they came across and once confessed that they did not know where to bowl to him. It was for this reason that Ian Chappell hailed him as 'Very Very Special Laxman'. 

A look at Laxman’s career reveals that there were many occasions when he got a raw deal from the selectors. He was dropped from the side for the 2003 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup when he was at his peak. Laxman has written in his autobiography '281 and Beyond' that this decision shocked him to such an extent that he even thought of quitting the game. The exclusion of his name in the current list is yet another instance of this cricketer not getting his due from the experts and pundits. 

The oft repeated idiom about statistics that 'what it reveals is suggestive, but what it conceals is vital' is apt for summing up the career of Laxman. His contributions to the the sport and to Indian cricket cannot be measured in mere figures or weighed by the awards and accolades he received nor can they be captured in words. Like the great Viswanath, he too will occupy forever a 'very very special' place in the hearts of followers of  the game in India and outside.