VVS : A Throwback to the Game's Golden Age

Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman hangs up his boots after a magical career – easily one of the cornerstones of the golden age of Indian batting : A quintet of the likes of Laxman , Sachin, Dravid , Sehwag and Ganguly will never again be seen in Indian cricket.

Over the past decade and a half – if there was one Indian batsman who  I could choose to watch in full flow, would be VVS. Not that dual master of technique and consistency – Sachin, neither that Kamikaze bladerunner Viru , but Laxman, who’s batting seemed to belong to the golden ages of cricket , along with the likes of Victor Trumper and Ranji. Art for art’s sake – never hurrying , never flustered , elegant even in his dismissals. The only other batsman in the modern era whom I could similarly equate would be the ineffable Mark Waugh. Neither holds records for centuries or boasts over the top batting averages but therein is where their genius hides. Those wrists, the visible lack of footwork, the flick through mid-wicket , the threading-the-needle drive between point and cover. Oh for an opportunity to see the 2 bat together –sure there might be a run out before either got off the mark , but at their best , I’d rather have watched a partnership between Laxman and Waugh Junior than that between any combination of Sachin-Lara-Ponting-Dravid-Kallis.

Another characteristic which connected Laxman and Waugh was their prowess in the slips – while the Aussie was definitely more mobile and athletic , when it came to the sheer feel  and safety of the hands, Laxman was 2^nd best to none.  

VVS was the Stan Mc’Cabe of Indian batting. Like the yesteryear Aussie great who spent his entire career in Bradman’s mighty shadow, so too in later years will Laxman’s career be referred to as the Tendulkar years of Indian cricket. Yet some of Laxman’s best test innings would easily outstrip any that Sachin  has managed in a playing career almost twice as long. The epochal 281 at the Eden Gardens , the 4^th inning 167 in Sydney and the 80 odd in a match-winning 10^th wicket partnership against Australia spring first to mind.

Of Mc’Cabe’s greatest innings , 2 memorable quotes of the Don are often bandied :

“I’d be a proud man if I could play an innings like that Stan.”

(to his teammates , while Mc’Cabe was in full flow) “Come out and see this, you’ll never see anything like that in your life again”

No quotes like that have been attributed to Sachin Tendulkar , but I’m sure his sentiments would not be far off during those Very Very Special set of innings’ that Laxman seemingly monopolised.

Yet this was a guy who had a stop start international career- really only firmly establishing himself after the 2001 Australia series. Yet something that strikes me at once during those early years was his utter dominance of the domestic circuit. Those games were not widely telecast, and only reading the scores in the newspapers it seemed that he would not score anything less that 150 anytime he set foot on the pitch – a kind of domestic dominance that neither Sachin nor Dravid have managed (probably because they were so firmly entrenched in the national team). Looking back at those early domestic performances of his, it seems all the more pitiable that youngsters making the test team these days haven’t produced even a pittance of the brilliance and consistency of the Hyderabad man.  

Laxman was not cut out for the limited overs format – a very visible lack of mobility and athleticism would usually negate his best batting efforts, but who cares. Limited overs exploits are hardly the ink with which the pages of cricketing folklore are written. Of the stuff which matters, Laxman has penned enough to create a little chapter of his own. Add to it, the full set of virtues that cricket prides itself of embodying , a life free of controversy , happily aware from the media frenzy : aye VVS Laxman ,  a straight shoo in to any all time-India test eleven.