V.V.S. Laxman came as a very, very special gift to Indian cricket. He was a batting virtuoso who could perform anywhere in the top order. Opening the innings, the wristy Hyderabadi scored a career-boosting 167 off 198 balls in the third Test at Sydney in January 2000. That innings would set him up for his chef d’oeuvre a little over a year later at the Eden Gardens. Promoted to No. 3 from his usual No. 6 position, Laxman’s 281 against Steve Waugh’s Australia in the win at the Eden is his highest and most memorable knock. In a chat with Soumitra Bose, the genial Laxman looks back at his famous knock in this exclusive interview. Excerpts:
How do you remember that famous Eden win?
It is still fresh in my mind. That match was the most satisfying and fulfilling Test for me. The Australian team was formidable. Their 16-match unbeatable streak was intimidating. At the Eden Gardens, the entire Indian team got to learn life lessons from the events that unfolded over five days.
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What do you mean by ‘life lessons’?
That Test reflected how life unfolds. We keep facing challenges every day. The team not only looked at the magnitude of the challenge (follow-on), but strove to find a process to counter it. Like batting the entire fourth day with Rahul (Dravid). We channelised our positive mindset and fought till the last. That was the hallmark of this Indian team.
How did you and Rahul prepare? What conversations did you have in the middle?
We didn’t plan anything. The goal was to play for as long as possible. Luckily for me and Rahul, just a month before the Calcutta Test, we had a similar partnership in Surat versus West Zone in a Duleep Trophy match. I got a double hundred; Rahul got a century. So, we had the ability to bat for long periods. The target was to see off the second new ball and bat on and on. The last session was challenging because Rahul came into the Test with viral fever and I nursed a back injury, excruciating pain and had to take painkillers every session. Rahul was cramping up, we encouraged each other. I am proud that we survived with a lot of mental toughness.
The decision to promote you to No. 3 was a masterstroke.
What perhaps prompted the team management—Sourav (Ganguly) and John (Wright)—to move me to No. 3 (from 6) was the way I batted on Day 3 morning…the Aussies had a spread-out field but I could score boundaries through gaps. Also, when John took over as coach, he saw domestic matches before the Australia series. For the South Zone, I always batted at 3 and Rahul at 4. John had watched my 200 at Surat.
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You scored a Test century at Sydney in 2000 as an opener. Would you have been more successful if you had regularly batted at No. 3 for India?
In sports, ifs and buts don’t matter. I have tried to give my best in every match. Nobody can guarantee results.
Would you say the Eden Gardens win was a turning point for Indian cricket?
There were many glorious moments before this Test but here we were in a transition phase. Sourav was our new captain and lot of youngsters were coming up. Our aim was to become the No. 1 Test team and beat the best both home and away. Waugh’s Australia was by far the best and the Eden win helped us take our cricket forward. Mentally we became stronger.
Did you ever feel the Aussie bowlers can get you out?
In international cricket, you never think negatively, but yes, the Australians had an exceptional bowling attack—Kasprowicz could reverse swing the ball, McGrath would not give you an inch, Gillespie was quick and bouncy, Warne the wizard. And Mark Waugh was a very underrated off-spinner.
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Do you think any Indian team can replicate the resilience shown by Ganguly’s men in 2001?
The current generation has replicated it. The Gabba win is a case in point. Probably this victory, achieved without six top players, has a bigger significance than our Eden win. The attitude shown by Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and T. Natarajan is to be proud of. We wanted to win in Australia and this generation has done it twice in succession. That’s phenomenal.
