An artist in recession

“Never mind what he can do to his team’s fortunes. This is a man who can make prime ministers run.”

On a beautiful sunny day, John Howard, then the Prime Minister of Australia, suddenly broke into a trot and his six bodyguards instantly switched to light-jog mode. Moments ago, the PA system had announced that the new man in was the one he referred to as “Laksmin”. Howard hurriedly made his way through a strolling, slightly puzzled crowd and towards his box seat at the 2004 Sydney Test. Affairs of state were going to have to wait.

Nearly eight years have gone by, and a lot has changed. Let alone the paraphernalia accompanying the 22 yards, even the Australian Prime Minister has changed – twice. But like form, prime ministers are temporary. However, there are things that remain just as they were – they, in a wonderfully charming way, cause the world to stop, hold back from its incessant march forward, allow the mind to wander – to look at timelessness, at things that defy the situations it seeks to create: a beautiful love story, a travelogue lazily told, a ghazal, a VVS Laxman innings.

Another phenomenon that, somehow, mysteriously defies change is Laxman’s ability to attract doubters. A few low scores here and there, a new kid on the block and questions about his rightful place as the formidable No.6 invariably begin to crop up. Many even do not hesitate to go to the extent of questioning his place in the squad in the first place.

And never have the voices been so loud. His overseas record since the England tour show paltry returns of 253 runs in 12 innings. A little in depth analysis might also reveal a slight flaw in the magician’s armor. Inadequate foot movement, an affinity to lunge into a flaying drive to a ball that is far away from his body, the tendency of staying on the crease to full pitched deliveries.

Kapil Dev, Sanjay Manjrekar, Kiran More and Anshuman Gaekwad have all asked India to look forward. To lose with younger players, if they have to keep losing. To start phasing out the big three - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Laxman. It however does not take a cricket guru to read between the lines, what they actually meant was to drop Laxman, perennially the most disposable man among the Indian batting heavyweights.

But is this lean period of his, enough to strip him off his place in the Indian line-up?

For just a few months prior to this, Laxman was churning out centuries every 4 tests and averaged a whopping 80 over a span of two years (from January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2011 to be precise). More than the numbers, Laxman was busy steering the Indian ship to safety, to victory.

His will never be a career in numbers. He has always been a batsman of imagery and imagination. Laxman’s records may easily be overtaken, but they cannot be replicated.

No matter how dire the situation – and he has been on duty on some very dire days – when Laxman took the stage in his moment, he conjured up the illusion that the crisis was not being tackled, it was simply being ignored. No wonder, the Prime Ministers came running.

Sport, however, doesn’t care about two years ago, we are told. But Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting have been through such spells. They have been allowed rope. They have all come back.

A lot is being said that the oppositions have now unraveled the very very special mystery and that there seems to be appearing loopholes in Laxman’s magic. That all you need to do is to come up with a few full pitched swinging deliveries and Laxman is as good as a sitting duck, is fast spreading among the opponent’s dressing room.

But isn’t that slight use of the depth of the crease for that fraction of a second more stands him in good light when playing in bouncy conditions? Questions have always been raised aplenty about his fitness, but knees have never been Laxman’s best friends.

Many years ago, a young Jonty Rhodes was batting with the legendary but ageing Graeme Pollock. After Jonty had called him for one single too many, the great man called him mid-pitch and said: “Young man, the athletics stops now and the cricket begins!”

The athletics may have stopped for VVS Laxman but the cricket continues to be magical.

The statistics might appear to fail him but computers only tell us about history; they have no concept of heart. They count Tests but don’t account for class and temperament. One has to see VVS Laxman bat to understand his magic. The end might be nearing but this certainly isn’t. Drop Laxman against Australia in Australia. No. Not yet!