Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman, better known as VVS Laxman is one of the greatest cricketers ever in the history of Indian cricket. The right-hand batsman was renowned for his elegant stroke play and is still a reference point for many middle-order batsmen in world cricket. He is one of the few cricketers in India, who has received the prestigious Padma Shri Award for his incredible contribution to Indian cricket.
For the unversed, VVS Laxman played 134 Test matches and scored a total of 8781 runs and in just 86 ODIs, he managed to hit 2338 runs. The former cricketer also had a brief stint in the IPL (Indian Premier League), where he scored 282 runs in just 20 matches. There's no denying the fact that there are plenty of cricketers who have far better numbers than VVS Laxman. But the reason why these statistics are still legendary goes to the fact that most of the runs that Laxman scored were against teams who were ruling the world cricket back in that time.
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One can understand it because VVS Laxman's favourite opponent was Australia. The same Australian side, who was at their prime when he played against them, but none of the bowlers could stand in front of the 'Very Very Special Laxman'. Despite being such an exceptional cricketer, it's remarkable how he never represented the Indian team in the World Cup. Shocking? Well, today we are going to talk about a lot more unknown things about VVS Laxman so that the next generation can know more about this legendary player, who is also known by the nickname, 'Miracle Batsman'.
On November 1, 1974, VVS Laxman was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (Telangana), to his physician-parents, Shantaram and Satyabhama. However, only some people are aware of the fact that VVS Laxman is the great-grandnephew of India's second president, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who is also remembered as one of India's most famous philosopher and statesman.
The iconic batsman, VVS Laxman is often considered as one of the most skilled and technically-aware cricketers ever by so many former cricketers and critics. From his fluid style of play and technical soundness, better than Sachin Tendulkar when it comes to strokeplay and the understanding of the off-stump, he was often called India's Geoffrey Boycott. For the unversed, Sir Geoffrey is an English cricketer, who is considered as the best player of the hard (new) ball in the history of cricket.
On November 20, 1996, VVS Laxman made his Test debut for the Indian team against South Africa, and it was on April 9, 1998, when he scored a duck on his ODI debut against Zimbabwe. While Laxman's ODI debut was every cricketer's nightmare, on the other side, he scored a fifty in the second innings of his Test debut. No one in their wildest dream could imagine that it was a sign of destiny that Laxman wasn't going to excel in the ODIs but would go on to become one of the greatest Test batsmen in Indian cricket.
Back in February 1994, VVS Laxman made his Under-19 debut against Australia. The batsman batted at six against a young Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, as they were also making their Under-19 debut for Australia. In the second game of the series, Laxman scored an unbeaten 151 in the first innings and scored 84 in the third match to end the tournament as the series' leading run-scorer. The match not only grabbed the attention of Indian selectors but also put the seed of a rivalry between VVS Laxman and Australia.
There's no denying saying that VVS Laxman is one of India's top players when we talk about Test cricket, but unfortunately, it is true that he never represented India at the World Cup. Well, back in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, VVS Laxman was dropped in order to strengthen the Indian team's bowling lineup with the introduction of Dinesh Mongia.
During the selection of the 2007 World Cup, India's then-head coach, Greg Chappell dropped VVS Laxman due to the latter's iconic performances when it comes to ODIs. With a heavy heart, Laxman decided to take retirement from ODI as he played his last match in December 2006 against South Africa and started focusing entirely on Test cricket.
It was on August 18, 2012, when VVS Laxman announced his retirement from international cricket. It was a sudden call from the iconic cricketer and had left the cricket fraternity absolutely stunned. However, reports were rife that Laxman allegedly quit international cricket because of the then-skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The rumours had it that MS Dhoni reportedly wanted senior players to consider retirement and the selectors should start thinking about the future.
Soon after his retirement, VVS Laxman's statement that 'everyone knows how difficult it is to reach Dhoni' created a stir in the media as the latter started getting a lot of hate from cricket fanatics. However, VVS Laxman mentioned in his autobiography, 281 and Beyond that his statement about MS Dhoni was a light-hearted joke, and there were never any differences between them. Not only this, Laxman even lauded Dhoni as a mature captain and admitted that he never lost his cool, which is his biggest strength.
VVS Laxman will forever be remembered for his 281-run innings against Australia in the 2001 Eden Gardens Test. It is often titled as one of the greatest knocks in cricket history. Laxman's 281 runs played a vital role in India's historic comeback victory, turning the match around from a complex follow-on situation. The cricketer's unwavering resilience against a formidable Australian bowling attack that has the likes of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Shane Warne and others proved the mettle of his exceptional skill and temperament.
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In October 2023, reports were rife that after the end of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, team India's current head coach, Rahul Dravid could take a break, and in his absence, VVS Laxman will hold the mantle. However, some rumours suggest the possibility of Rahul quitting as India's head coach after the World Cup and hence, VVS Laxman is likely to be India's next head coach for the five-match T20 series against Australia. However, there's no official statement about the same as of now.
Only some people are aware of the fact that VVS Laxman got his famous nickname, 'Very Very Special', from the legendary Australian captain, Ian Chappell. He bestowed this nickname upon Laxman after witnessing his consistent and impressive performances during the 2003-2004 ODI series against Australia.
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VVS Laxman's wife, G. R. Sailaja is a computer applications graduate. The couple got married in 2004, and they prefer to keep their personal life private. Laxman and Sailaja have two children, a son named Sarvajit and a daughter named Achinthya.
We hope the coming generations will keep VVS Laxman's legacy alive, as he is one of the greatest players ever in Indian cricket history.
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