During his illustrious cricket career, he was known for his elegant stroke play as a middle-order batsman. The team against which he loved to compete was Australia and with the much talked about Border-Gavaskar trophy event looming on the horizon, it would be interesting to note what Laxman has said about his experiences of playing against the Aussies.
No cricket lover can forget his knock of 281 against Australia in a Test match at Kolkata in 2001. Despite scoring 445 in its first innings, Australia lost that match by 171 runs thanks mainly to the superb batting of Laxman and Rahul Dravid who put on a stand of 376 runs for the 5th wicket.
Laxman has titled his autobiography 281 And Beyond in memory of his greatest moment on the cricket field. In the book he has given a vivid description of what it was like to face the pressure and overcome heavy odds to take India to a wonderful victory.
Loved playing against Aussies
In the book he has written that he always loved to play against the Aussies. Their competitive spirit and positive approach to the game brought out the best in Laxman. He had played against Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds at the Under-19 level so he knew them very well when they graduated to the senior level.
The attacking field placings that they set allowed Laxman a chance to score more runs. Besides, Laxman always preferred to have the ball come at him with a little extra pace and bounce so that it could also be dispatched to the boundary with a hard shot.
When he scored 281 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, he broke the record for the highest score by an Indian batter which was held by Sunil Gavaskar at 236. That knock by Laxman has become one of the most celebrated performances in Indian cricket.
Shane Warne’s view
Interestingly Shane Warne in his autobiography No Spin has also given his views about Laxman and this match. Warne has written that it was a mistake by skipper Steve Waugh to make India follow on at that stage. The Australian bowlers and fielders were tired due to the heat and humidity. Asking the bowlers to bowl again put too much workload on them and they lost their destructive ability.
However, it was a great moment for Laxman and for India. In that match when Warne tried to counter Laxman by packing the leg side and bowling leg theory, Laxman began to drive inside-out through the vacant off side. He also hit against the spin and Warne later admitted that he was clueless about how to stop Laxman.
Hitting against the spin was another aspect of batsmanship at which Laxman was very good. Few batters could do this as well as Laxman. But quite often he was not given the opportunities that he deserved. He was at his best when batting at the number three position in the lineup. But he was often shunted up and down the order. He was the Man Friday of team India and whenever a difficult job had to be done, Laxman was called for.
Great Hyderabad lover
Laxman is a big lover of Hyderabad and its culture. He once said that he was blessed to have been born in Hyderabad and grown up here. In his autobiography, he gives credit to several Hyderabad cricketers such as Arshad Ayub and his batting idol Mohammed Azharuddin for helping him hone his skills.
Nowadays, as the Director of the National Cricket Academy, Laxman is serving Indian cricket at a different level. If the youngsters who have come into contact with him can assimilate his expertise and emulate him, it will be a huge blessing for Indian cricket.
| 
