![VVS Laxman's best Test innings for India [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1762001017942_vvs_laxman.jpg?type=hq)
VVS Laxman's best Test innings for India [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]
VVS Laxman stood as one of India’s most elegant craftsmen in Test cricket. With wrists that could whip even the fiercest of deliveries towards the boundary, the legendary Indian batter racked up mountains of runs during his 16-year career, especially against Australia, an opponent that stood as the most formidable force in world cricket at the time.
Celebrating the legacy of VVS Laxman, here is a look at five of his greatest batting spectacles for Team India in Tests.
5. VVS Laxman – 124* vs New Zealand, 2009
Following on and trailing by 314 runs against New Zealand at Napier mere days after going 1-0 up in the three-match series, India’s then middle-order resolute VVS Laxman batted for a major part of the final day to churn out a fighting draw. Batting at number five, the cricketer formed forces with fellow-centurion Gautam Gambhir and all-rounder Yuvraj Singh as India reached 476-4 to retain their 1-0 lead.
VVS Laxman himself washed out 212 deliveries in his innings to score an unbeaten 124*. However, more than the runs he racked up that day, it was the sheer composure and defiance he displayed through four-and-a-half hours of attritional batting that stood out. On a crumbling Day 5 surface against relentless Kiwi bowlers, VVS Laxman’s Napier special laid the foundation for India’s eventual Test series triumph on New Zealand soil later that tour, their first in over four decades.
4. VVS Laxman – 73* vs Australia, 2010
In the first Test of India’s 2010 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against Australia, VVS Laxman played the last-action hero to pull off a one-wicket heist at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. Battling Day 5 pressure, Australian bowlers and a severe back pain; the legendary middle-order batter rose above all challenges just to traumatize his favorite opponents once again.
Left to chase 216 for a chance to go 1-0 up in the two-match series, Team India slipped to a precarious 124-8 in 33.4 overs to find themselves another 92 runs away from their target. VVS Laxman, who arrived at 76-5, employed calculated aggression and nerveless resilience to conjure a match-defining 81-run partnership with number 10 Ishant Sharma. The seasoned campaigner notched up 11 more runs with another tailender Pragyan Ojha, albeit under dramatic circumstances, to cap one of the most remarkable Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests in history.
3. VVS Laxman – 73 vs South Africa, 2006
VVS Laxman was one of the masterminds behind India’s first-ever Test victory on South African soil. Touring the rainbow nation with little hopes of success back in December 2006, the batting maestro whipped out a courageous 73 from 154 balls on Days 2 and 3 in the second Indian innings to set up a monumental target of 402.
Going up head first against the likes of Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis and Andre Nel; VVS Laxman held the Indian innings together, steering them from 61-4 to a commendable 236 all out. Laxman’s fighting innings was duly complemented by fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth as India secured a historic 123-run win by Day 4.
2. VVS Laxman – 148 vs Australia, 2003
Amid all the euphoria surrounding Rahul Dravid’s marathon 233 at the Adelaide Oval back in December 2003, it was always easy to overlook the artistry of VVS Laxman at the other end in the same innings. Laxman, the silent sculptor, delivered a masterpiece of his own, building 148 runs from 282 balls during his epic match-defining fifth-wicket partnership of 303 with Dravid. Their twin hundreds helped India minimize the Australian lead to just 33 runs after the latter’s 556 seemed a mountain in front of India’s trembling 85-4.
Moreover, the cricketer scored another tough 32 at a near run-a-ball on a challenging Day 5 run-chase as Team India clinched its first Test win on Australian soil in 23 years.
1. VVS Laxman – 281 vs Australia, 2001
Among all 23 international centuries VVS Laxman plundered in his glorious 16-year career, none shimmered with the same aura of divine timing as that ethereal 281 at the Eden Gardens back in March 2001. A knock that bended time and defied cricketing logic itself, Laxman’s marathon innings not only halted Australia’s record-shattering 16-match winning streak, but also heralded one of the most stirring comebacks in Test history.
Forced to follow on after trailing by 274 runs, VVS Laxman mounted 281 runs from 452 balls with 44 boundaries, and batted the entirety of Day 4 and beyond with Rahul Dravid (180) to set up a 384-run target for the visitors. Harbhajan Singh’s spin show did the rest on Day 5 as Team India stole a 171-run victory to become only the third side in Test history to win a match after following on. Laxman’s Kolkata epic also remained India’s highest individual score in Tests for the next few years.
