Monday, August 20, 2012

VVS Laxman: the irreplaceable silent hero



One of the finest knocks that Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman played was inside the conference room of the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium in Hyderabad on August 18th. It was built with humility, power, elegance and the usual ingredient in his innings- focus.

He announced retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect; a declaration which came as a surprise even to the chief of selectors K. Srikkanth. It is necessary to point out though, that this was not the farewell the man deserved for the services he meted out to the nation for over 15 years.

V.V.S. Laxman- a class apart!


A day before announcement, a national daily had reported that the veteran player had been hurt by the recent comments in the cricketing circles about his dip in form. However, ironically, he scored a marvellous 169 versus Karnataka State Cricket Association President’s XI. It was obvious from the immediacy of the decision. A newspaper rightly titled its piece on the batsman’s retirement- ‘Retired Hurt’ and it couldn’t be more apt.  

The contemplation for this decision had begun already before the Ind-NZ series and it was expected that his home turf would witness the wristy magician’s last walk on the cricket field. However, and as usual, he managed to surprise. He did that in 2001 when India had almost conceded a defeat and a resilient Laxman scored that gem of 281 to win the match. His innings of 148 versus Australia (probably overshadowed with Rahul Dravid’s 233) epitomized fighting spirit.

He was a silent assassin for the team and set an example with his irreplaceable determination. His hunger to play the game for the ‘team’ elevated him in the league of the extraordinary gentlemen almost from his debut. The quality was witnessed very differently in his match-winning innings of 73 versus Australia at Mohali in 2010. It was a fiery innings when passion his and aggression were particularly visible on the field. Take a look:



In a nutshell, the latter half of this decade has seen three of the holy four cricketers hanging up boots at the right time. His last series in Australia could be one exception in his performances- probably the time he felt the age was catching up to him. Nevertheless, the silent hero would never be forgotten from fans like me.

His successor S.Badrinath, who replaced him, would have a huge responsibility to fulfill. Given his experience in mind, as a fan, I can only hope that he could come up to the levels of the great cricketer.

Thank you VVS for all that you have done for the game. You will surely be missed. 


Pictures © Getty Images