The sad trajectory of being a Dravid and a Laxman

Enigma

Does mother earth provide us with a criterion to be “Great”? In simple language: Is there a parameter to measure greatness? If yes, what? If not, why?

Indian Cricket, in fact, Cricket in general, has seen several greats over the years. It, however, is so disappointing to see how carelessly and meaninglessly the word ‘great’ is used today; in the media and on the microphone as if being great was as easy as putting bums to seats. The other day it was in writing that Suresh Raina was a great player as he had more runs than anybody else in the Indian T20 spectacle. I asked myself: Does that really define greatness? Now, I’m not saying that Suresh Raina is an ugly cricketer (even if I say who cares); but what I want to ask is: Is greatness purely a statistical attribute or is there a deeper meaning attached to it?

It would not be an exaggeration to state the under-stated fact that two greats, instrumental in numerous victories and saviours in innumerable draws, had to remain content all their lives (atleast the Cricketing quotient), under the shadow of God. Strange, of course! People devote their entire lives hoping he would smile someday and finally they could be under the shadow of God. In their case, it was different. In their case, the God was a human- like them. The God was a cricketer-like them. The God was a great cricketer-like them. The God was worshipped-unlike them. The saddest part is: No one has ever bothered to ask ‘why?’.

It won’t take much time for an Indian to recognise the God, a.k.a. Sachin Tendulkar. The other two in the spotlight here, are Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. I can bet my favourite Lomani, there’s not a single sensible cricket pundit on this planet who can say that either of the three was technically superior. They were parallel. But the world, ironically, does not recognise this. To them, Sachin Tendulkar was, is and will always be a magician.

Yes, Sachin is a magician, but that doesn’t mean that the others aren’t! Everyone is a magician in his own right. Ask Gavaskar to do a Sehwag and he’ll fail; Sourav Ganguly won’t resemble a Jonty that too well either. Dravid and Laxman were magicians as well. Long-time followers of the game know it better. Dravid’s forward defence might not seem appealing in this era of swashbuckling hitting but hold the willow while defending 160 kph inswinging yorkers and you would know the elegance of Rahul Dravid. Tackle Murali and hit him through the covers to know the magic of VVS Laxman. Dravid’s defense earned him the status of the ‘Wall’ of the Indian Team; Laxman’s magical wrists ensured his name got a new extension- Very Very Special Laxman!

The student who rose in the toughest times

As per Wisden’s list of top 100 Test Innings in history, VVS Laxman’s 281 against Australia was ranked 6th, while Tendulkar failed to manage a place on the list. That list however is history and a decade has passed by since then and Test Cricket has seen innumerable batting spectacles, particularly from these three. Around the same time, Rahul Dravid was ranked the third best Test Cricketer ever, just one spot behind Sachin Tendulkar.

By the time Dravid and Laxman set their foot in international Cricket, Tendulkar was already a deity, worshipped throughout the country, admired the World around. And their fate was sealed; they were forced to play second fiddle to the great man for the rest of their lives. Yet, few stories are worth telling. I might be sparking up a controversy, but the early part of 2000s belonged to Dravid. Be it the immortal 180 against Australia (the same match where Laxman got 281), the epic 148 at Headingly, unforgettable 600+ run spree in England the same series, the twin elegant bolts of 233 and 72* at Adelaide (which brought India its first Test Victory on Australian soil in twenty years) or the career-best 270 against Pakistan, Dravid made the 2000s his own. During the period, he often donned the big gloves in the shorter format in order to render balance to the team and even sacrificed his batting position for the sake of his team. People say-“‘SACH…’ is life”; I say- “Such is Dravid”. In his penultimate series, in England in 2011, the entire team crumbled around him as he went on to score three centuries and finished with an aggregate of over 700 hundred runs from the four-match series while Sachin managed to get a single fifty from the eight innings he played. Unsurprisingly, Rahul Dravid is the only player in the history of the game to have conquered the unprecedented feat of hitting a century in each Test Playing nation.

“Dravid Could play attacking cricket like me but I could never play like him”

- Chris Gayle

The Wall-always taken for granted…

Had there been an award for the official match saver, there could be no other nominees than VVS Laxman. Widely regarded as the ‘Sankatmochak’ (which, loosely translated, means ‘saviour from troubles’) by the Hindi media, the tales of Laxman’s match saving nature travels far and wide. Starting from the career defining, revolutionising 281 against the Aussies, Laxman has saved India more occasions than one could imagine. In that very match, he showed his grit when he came up with one of the most memorable Test Innings ever, turning the match on its head and converting a follow-on into a victory. Seems like a fairytale, doesn’t it! Apart from sticking with the tail on numerous occasions on home soil, Laxman has gone on to save India in Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa. The most interesting contribution I can recall is the 73* against Australia when he stuck around with Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha to take India to victory with one wicket in hand!

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

-Bret Lee

Another fact which makes these legends worthier is the effect which their innings’ had to the outcome. Tendulkar’s initial heroics all but went in vain as his peak coincided with a relatively dead patch in India’s Cricketing history. In 1992, the prodigious heroics at Manchester, Sydney, Perth and Johannesburg all came at a time when he was still in his late teens but resulted either in a loss or at most salvaged a draw. He displayed his masterclass few years later, again, at Birmingham, Trent Bridge, Cape Town, Wellington, Melbourne and Colombo but his efforts rarely bore fruit as India kept surrendering to the might of the opposition and the great man found his efforts in vain- more often than not. On the other hand, Rahul Dravid’s best of the best resulted in an Indian victory. There are two things common in the tests of Kolkata, Leeds, Adelaide, Rawalpindi, Jamaica – they witnessed Indian victories and they witnessed Dravid’s instrumental role in them. Laxman too has a similar reputation – his late 60s and 70s with the tail often resulting in Indian victories. Apart from the already mentioned 73*, Laxman’s flawless 103* in Sri Lanka 2010 and gritty 96 Durban the same year helped India level the series on both ocassions.

Yet, why did’t they get their due? Why had they been so underrated? Why had they been so taken-for-granted? Why had they been so overshadowed by the man who is the highest run getter in the history of cricket; the man who has over 90 fifties in ODI Cricket; the man who has a tally of 100 international centuries; the man who has garnered over 30,000 international runs; the man who has been around for 22 years; the man who is not considered a human; the man considered the greatest batsman ever; the man they call Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. And yet again, it boils down to the question I put forward at the beginning:

Is greatness purely a statistical attribute or is there a deeper meaning attached to it?

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Edited by Staff Editor
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