5 best innings by Indian batsmen at the Eden Gardens

#1 VVS Laxman’s 281 grinds the Aussies into defeat – March 2001

VVS Laxman gifted everyone arguably the greatest Test innings by an Indian

When VVS Laxman walked in to bat for the second time in the 2001 Test match against the mighty Australians, India were struggling. Australia had amassed 445 runs in their first innings riding on captain Steve Waugh’s 110.

After a dismal performance in the first innings, getting bowled out for a 171, and losing opener Sadagopan Ramesh with the score at 52 in the second innings – after the follow-on had been forced by the Kangaroos, in walked the Hyderabad batsman. India were still trailing by 222 runs and judging by the first innings performance, it was going to take a Herculean effort to get something out of this game.

And VVS provided just that. What followed next was history in the making. It was the stuff of legends, a knock that would go on to be rated as the best of the century. An innings that would be spoken about for ages and ages to come. Laxman, drawing inspiration from the Kolkata crowd, went on to score 281, the highest score by an Indian in a Test innings, until the Nawab of Najafgarh would break it three years later.

It was an innings of the highest order as Laxman toyed with the Australian attack for almost two days of play. Legendary Shane Warne himself concedes, “I was bowling in the foot marks and Laxman was hitting the same ball through cover or whipping it through midwicket. It was so hard to bowl then.”

Along with Rahul Dravid, Laxman set the stage for the greatest ever comeback victories in the annals of cricket history. India went on to win the Test match by a 171 runs, thanks to a 13-wicket haul in the game for then-young Harbhajan Singh, which also included a hat-trick. In the process, India also managed to put an end to Australia’s record winning streak.

It would not be wrong to say that this Test match changed the way the world looked at Indian cricket. And VVS Laxman was at the heart of it.