Very Very Special !!!

Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman - ( Very Very Special )

I am a little late in writing about VVS Laxman, but to write about a special man.... oooopppsss a Very Very Special man you need time so whatever you write is very very special.

He was a man from a very humble background, both parents are doctors and mostly in cases like this the child also gets to the same profession, but as he famously said he always listened to his inner voice, it was great that he followed and how beautifully. Beautiful an adjective seldom used to describe batsmen, but that’s the way he played....effortless and beautiful.

I have strong memories when it comes to remembering cricket matches. And the one Laxman made his debut was special...again very very special.

On a low scoring track he scored a 50 odd in the 2^nd innings, I repeat 2^nd innings, as he was India’s got to go man when it came to bat out the 2^nd innings of a test match.

Through his career, it was a roller coaster ride lots of ups and downs, be it series averages or his place in the batting order. He was shuffled at will, and he performed wherever asked. That’s a mark of a team man. After initial few matches he was dropped and so he went back to Ranji scored tons of runs as he always did and then got picked against the mighty Australians. This time he was asked to open where in his debut series he was a middle order batsman. He did open and did well. And then again had a low patch after that but came back in the team strongly and this time the roller coaster had more ups than downs. It began with the 2001 Australia’s tour of India, again his best came out against the best in the world, and he scored at will against the Australians.

Cricket experts say that it was one of the best series ever played, but for me it was the best, I may be a little partial as India was involved and they won it, but the way we played after being beaten badly in the first test and then come back after asked to follow on, it sums up everything and to add to the thrill of the 2^nd test, the 3^rd one gave me a bad stomach ache, when Samir Dighe and the Turbanator took us home. From then he was one of the mainstays of the batting order.

He was moved down to bat at number 6, as he had a lean patch again, and Rahul Dravid was at his peak in the early half of the decade of 2000-2010, which I think was a kind of blessing, as he did really well at 6. Invaluable performances and in all conditions, that shows how good he was. His style of play was not aggressive but he scored freely, and at will. This helped him batting with the tail as he played mostly at 6.

Laxman’s temperament was amazing, two instances come to my mind as I write about this. Very few sportsmen are cool and calm under tough situations, VVS was one of them. I remember the sand storm match where Sachin was going great and had a mission to conquer, he wanted a single and VVS didn't respond, Sachin again a person with controlled temper lost his cool and VVS at the other end had nothing to say as it was his early days and also the man the other end was Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, nobody could say anything wrong or bad to him. In spite of this, a youngster would have replied or react to such situation, but our man was cool and calm. The second instance, the Mohali test in 2010 against the Australians ( There is something which connects the Aussies and VVS ), Laxman had a toiling stand with number 10 Ishant Sharma, which brought India a step away from victory. Ishant got out to a bad decision, which brought Ojha, Laxman’s state mate to the crease.

Laxman played a shot and got a chance to get another run for the over throws which Ojha refused and that made VVS furious...it was a sight which none had witnessed before. Once India won the match and the players were walking back to the pavilion, VVS apologised to Ojha for his outburst, how many people would have done that to a junior who came in almost after a decade to the national side. This shows what the man was made of and how much respect he had for team mates, irrelevant of their experience or age. Sachin and almost all players said when VVS retired, you will be missed Laxman bhai, VVS or whatever they called him.

Missed would be an understatement, as there was a certain comfort when he was at the crease, Sourav Ganguly once said that, if VVS was at the crease the atmosphere in the dressing room was so much at ease and there wouldn’t be any sort of tension. This was the quality of VVS. No fuss pure batting with timing and elegance.

His stats were not as high as Sachin, Rahul, Lara or Ponting, but his batting was nothing less than them. He was at par with all of them and would command the same amount of respect from his counterparts.

I can write endlessly when it comes to Indian cricket, about all players; those I have seen serve my country and those who played before I followed the game. But there is an end to everything, there would never be a same player be it Sourav, Anil, Rahul or VVS. All we can hope is that the new bunch has the same love for the game as these players had. T20 is fine but test match cricket is the one people know you for. Achilles knew he would die if he had gone to war against the Trojans, but his mother said, if you want to be known to the world you have to go. That’s how all these greats played...

Salute to the man 

This write up is really very very special to me...and I hope to you too....thank you for reading :)

cheers 

The Dream Is Dead

"I saw a genie in my dream asking for just one wish which he could fulfill, and without thinking twice I said I want India to level the series against Australia, after the defeat we got in the first two tests, he said he couldn't as that was his wish too and said further that it is something which no one else apart from the 11 players could fulfill, and they needed our support. I said that I know and will support them come what may."
But for Sachin, Rahul and VVS the dream of winning a series in australia is over as this for sure will be there last tour there. ( the title is adapted from Siddharth Monga, Cricinfo )

I always knew that how bad our team fared, I will be supporting them until death, yes I and we all are sad and fuming with anger with our teams performance, yes it is not acceptable that a team with such a brilliant batting order can fail on four consecutive innings. there is something wrong somewhere, I hope the team and the management figures that out sooner, as it is not doing any good for the game and for people like us who are true lovers of test cricket.
The BCCI seems to be least bothered and it shows as they were busy scheduling the IPL-V after the Sydney loss, for god's sake give the test team more importance, the IPL can be done in free time and if the BCCI cannot do it, they should call back one Mr. Modi who once organised it in days and not weeks or months ;) .

If our team performs the way they did in the remaining tour, there would lot of axing which instead of building the team might go the other way round as it does not help the atmosphere in the dressing room. Legends should go gracefully and not be thrown out.

With all the retired players letting their anger out on news channels should go and help the team, forget about paychecks, they could do it without them for once.
I am still hopeful for an Indian comeback and I know people would say that I must be a fool to still think that. India would comeback in this series, and I really feel that all is not lost yet.

fanatic

Its  pretty obvious thing to write about the world cup winning team as every one wants to be connected to the team in one way or the other, cause we are a cricket crazy nation.
Still i wanted to share this.
I started to follow the game since 1991...fading memory i have though ..as i was only 7 then.
But i surely remeber watching Sachin play in the 1992 world cup...and that is the reason for me bieng a fanatic about the game, the man and the team...called team INDIA. :)
Always brings smile on my face...in whatever the situation ...a win or a loss...i always get pumped up, my energy goes to the maximum level even if i listen to the word INDIA.
Still the memroy of the HERO CUP is as fresh as it has happened not tooo long ago.
He has countless performances which brought smiles and joy to the millions of us....no matter how much ever criticism came on his way. The man remained the same...and kept on giving his best to the team and nation.
And now we see a team of young guns dedicating the world cup to him...it looked to me as Sachin was the biggest reason they wanted to win the cup for, though it was for the whole nation ....and not one man.
But that is the power sachin carries...and he never lets the fact get into his head...and be arrogant or somehitng of that sort.
Wanted to just start a blog on SRT...so have just started ....will keep posting things and facts all through his career...things which all of us know and some more which not many of them are aware of....
I hope u liked reading this..so would be glad to get any kind of feedback.
and i promise to keep posting the facts....

take care
cheers