Veteran Indian batter VVS Laxman played one of the most remarkable innings in the history of Test cricket against Australia at the Eden Gardens in 2001. Laxman pulled off an epic knock of 281 in that fixture to guide Team India to a memorable win. Laxman’s double hundred at the Eden Gardens was undoubtedly a career-defining moment but it was probably India’s tour of Australia in 1999-2000 which offered him a perfect launchpad. That outing proved to be quite a dismal one for India but Laxman was the only ray of hope for the Men in Blue against the Aussies. Laxman had played a terrific knock of 167 in the Sydney Test. It has now been revealed by former cricketer MSK Prasad. that Laxman received a pep-talk from Sachin Tendulkar during that tour.
“Then Laxman asked Sachin about his favourite player. Sachin replied: Laxman if you don’t smile and show your teeth, I’ll say you are my favourite player.?’ Laxman started laughing and said Sachin was only making fun of him. Sachin interrupted and added: Laxman, I’ll tell you one thing. You are blessed with so much talent. You can see the ball a split second earlier than me. God has given you exceptional talent which you are not able to understand. God gave me minimum talent, which I am maximising: I have four gears in my batting defence. push, drive and loft. I understand the conditions and use my logic and perform accordingly,” former Team India selector MSK Prasad was quoted as saying in the book ‘Sachin at 50’.
Coming out to bat as an opener, Laxman produced a sublime knock of 167 in the second innings of the Sydney Test. His brilliance, however, was not adequate enough to clinch a victory for the Indian cricket team. The Sachin Tendulkar-led side had to concede a defeat by an innings and 141 runs in that game.
VVS Laxman’s stats in Tests show that the 48-year-old has been at his very best while taking on the Australia bowling unit. Having played 29 Tests against the Aussies, Laxman notched up 2434 runs at an average of 49.67. He managed to claim six of his 17 Test centuries against Australia. Overall, Laxman has 8781 runs under his belt having played 134 Tests. Laxman not only excelled against Australia in red ball cricket, but he also has a splendid record against them in ODIs. He scored 739 runs at an average of 46.18 in 21 matches against the Aussies.
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