Very Very Special Laxman Delivers An Incredible Indian Win Against Australia
Statistics don’t tell the whole story. Vangipurappu Venkata Sai (VVS) Laxman scored less runs in this match, compared to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. But I don’t think there is an iota of doubt in anyone’s mind today about the real match winner. And that’s a back to back match winning performance (after his crucial role in the victory against Sri Lanka in August).
What an amazing innings this was! Talent, Temperament, Class, Concentration. Playing with a bad back, he still delivered his range of signature wristy shots. They were a treat to watch. He was well supported by Ishant Sharma. Indeed, the two injured players carried the day for India. Laxman seems to particularly bring out his best against Australia. Ever since that epic 281 against Steve Waugh’s side in Kolkata in 2001, he has been quite possibly the toughest opposing player for the Aussies. Peter Roebuck summarizes that well in his column title today: “Very Very Special Laxman again thorn in Australia’s side”.
This Test had five days of intense competition between two well-balanced slides. Fortunes changed every session. There were great individual performances by Watson, Zaheer Khan and Tendulkar in the first innings. In the second innings, Indian bowling attack restricted Australia and had a very realistic chance to win. However early wickets on day 4 and day 5 made it very difficult. And with over 90 runs to score with only 2 wickets remaining – Aussies look all set for a comfortable win. And how things changed in the next hour!
The drama and excitement went up one notch when Ishant got out with 11 runs still remaining. Aussies could have won the game on the penultimate ball when a close lbw decision went against them and they also missed a run out chance, that resulted in 4 over-throws.
Overall this game was a fine victory for Test Cricket. With the shorter versions of the games increasing in popularity everyday, it was extremely pleasing to see the classic version deliver such great excitement. Bodes well for the future of the longer version on the game in the years to come. Going forward, I do hope though that BCCI organizes Test Matches in Tier 1 Cities. The Mohali ground is great, but the crowd attendance for such a great match could have been a lot better.
Amit Paranjape's Blog 
Well said, Amit. VVS has the concentration and technical ability of Sunil Gavaskar (or Rahul Dravid if you prefer), artistry of Gundappa Vishwanath, and the never-say-die streetfighter quality of Kapil Dev. It is unfortunate that he is a contemporary of Dravid; in any other era he would have been batting at the #3 spot and would have had a much greater opportunity to show the world how great a player he is.
Very disappointed with the way Sachin got out in both innings. I never thought much of his shot selection anyway. At times, he will, out of the blue, play an incredibly dumb shot that is completely unworthy of a batsman of his stature. In both innings he threw his wicket away, more so in the second inning.
Time for Rahul Dravid to retire.
Aniraudh Srikkanth is perhaps the next batter to be inducted into the Indian team? Even ardent south zone fans are embarrassed by K Srikkanth’s selections.