A Very(V) Very(V) Subtle(S) Contribution

Packed up. Time to move on?

Sixteen years have gone so fast. The ship is shaky, for it has lost it sturdy mast. Well as for the man, he gave it his all, till his very last. The irony with VVS Laxman’s retirement from Test cricket is that it has brought more joy and relief to Australian faces than evoking a sense of loss on behalf of their Indian counterparts. The gentleman as always, came about quietly, played along contently, and left on a sombre note, minus the furore.

But as the sun sets on his career, Indian Cricket may get a rude awakening, for it has well and truly lost a leader, a leader of a clan to which only he belonged. Tigers can be bred, walls can be rebuilt. But artists who can seamlessly carve out beautiful artefacts while smearing themselves with mud, cannot be replicated. Their talent is rare, for even without listening they can answer people’s prayers. They go about their chores with minimum of fuss, seemingly unaware of their own powers, and the impact that they can have, the change that they can bring. The people are just as happy to turn a blind eye towards their situation, for they are seemingly interested only in the creation and not the creator.

But now that he is gone, having left a glaring hole in the middle, Team India may find it hard to crack the complex riddle. Having started as an opener vested with the responsibility to lay a solid foundation, he ended up almost always having to steer a sinking ship close to safety. His batting average of a shade above 45 may seem average when compared to the “Master” and the “Wall”, but his batting exploits when following on , an ignominy too hard to take for most batsmen even usurped those of the “Don”.

Laxman had this gift, this ability to effortlessly bail out the team on his back, from near calamity, a trait shared with only a few like Micheal Bevan (who did it in the shorter format of-course).

“I hope his back’s pretty sore for next week as well and he can’t play.” Ricky Ponting.

Be it the 167 at Sydney, the 89 at Port Elizabeth, or the herculean 281 at the Eden, which heralded an new era for Indian Cricket as the nearly-men transformed into cadets. In tense situations, he would always be the tight-rope walker. While others would struggle, confused as to how to go about their innings, Laxman would keep moving on at his pace, unfazed. While others would seemingly shut down shop, he would flick the ball ‘dangerously’ on the on-side, when it was meant to be hit on the off-side thus keeping the scorecard running, something which he himself was not very fond of. The bowler would always feel that he had a chance to get him out, but he himself would never be in doubt. Elegance galore, his exquisite wrist-work has become a part of the cricketing folklore. It wasn’t only about the hits, hits as they never were, more like caresses, but about the calm he exuded. A calm which used to bring about a belief amongst his comrades, who as fate would have it were mostly tail-enders uneasy at the crease.

If you get Dravid, great. If you get Sachin, brilliant. If you get Laxman, it’s a miracle.” Brett Lee.

Yes, we have all heard about the importance of the openers, the responsibility of the number three, the best man at number four, and the number five’s right to play freely, but with VVS at number six, tt was a position about which the management did not need to think, for they had no problems to fix. From the cute cameos, to the monumental epics, from the rightly paced, to the saving grace he could do it all.

Before a certain Dhoni, India had wicket-keepers which truth be told were their for their exploits behind the stumps, rather than their expertise at their front. This rendered the number six position to be of strategic importance. For the man walking in at number six, was the final frontier, which if breached would expose the not so pleasant under-belly of the team. In this respect VVS did a commendable job, for he always added invaluable runs to the board with the tail-enders in tow, even helping India win the Mohali test match with a last wicket stand with Ojha.

Moving on to the position beside the keeper, the slips. A position generally occupied by trusted veterans, with hardened hands. And Laxman had surely painted his hands aplenty with the red cherry, taking a healthy 135 catches during his sojourn. His assured presence in the slips, where margin for errors is minimum will be sorely missed.

But all is not gloomy. For life moves in cycles. Just like ‘Virat’ looks ready to emulate the colossal wall, VVS’s exit provides a window of opportunity to the young brigade aplenty. Cheteshwara Pujara with a proven domestic track record has just signalled his arrival, with a masterful century against the Kiwis at Laxman’s home-ground. S.Badrinath is a seasoned campaigner, with the necessary patience and nous to thrive in a ‘Testing’ scenario. Suresh Raina for once, can get an opportunity to replicate his ODI form in the longer format although he still needs to work hard against the short-ball. Rohit Sharma is brimming with talent, but needs to apply himself a lot more and readjust his stroke-play to suit the rigours of the 5 day game. While the prodigal son Yuvraj Singh‘s inclusion may give a lift to everyone involved and help him realise his dream of excelling in test cricket, although his health is a big factor. And how about Ambati Rayudu adding some Hyderabadi flavour?

All in all, there are many pretenders to the throne. But in reality Laxman never sat on one. He was just like his mythological namesake, a subtle contributor to the Cricketing Gods.