People say that Laxman is a highly underrated cricketer. I think exactly the opposite: He is an overrated batsman. Barring two or three really big scores: The 167 at Sydney, that famous 281 and a match winning knock at Adelaide, the guy has always disappointed .... I completely agree that those innings were innings of high quality and under pressure. No doubt about that. But dude, 2-3 good innings in hundred test matches is just not done. Ya, people do say he bats at number 6 and all and so he does not get enough chances to score the big ones. But thats all rubbish.
Here's a scenario that has happened an umpteen number of times with Laxman: India are 250 for 4 and Laxman is batting on 40 odd. The batsman at the other end is Ganguly so India lose their fifth wicket soon and the score becomes say 260 for 5. Laxman, instead of retaining more strike and trying to score runs quickly keeps taking singles, exposing the tail. The end result: India gets all out for 300 odd, Laxman not out 50. The guy complains that he runs out of partners every time and so can't score a hundred. Thats Laxman for you.
He is an extremely defensive cricketer. It happened numerous times under Ganguly that India took lead in a test series only to squander it in the next test. Laxman and Tendulkar have been majorly responsible for this: These guys get so defensive in the 2nd innings, their goal is just to occupy the crease and not get out and draw the test. Their aim is not to win the test but just sit on the 1-0 lead. They do not realize that eventually they will get out and that will put pressure on the lower order. The same thing happened in the Nagpur test recently: The openers gave a cracking start, going at 4.5 runs an over and the momentum was with India. Enter Laxman: 4 runs in 40 balls and gets out. Tendulkar saheb, 11 in 53, follow. Momentum shifts with Australia and india are 166-6. I donno what Ponting had in his tea that day, but India could have easily lost the test and again squandered the 1-0 advantage they had. Thats Laxman for you - The ultra defensive cricketer.
One may argue that Ganguly hardly deserves to be even called "fab" with his average of 41 odd. But remember, Ganguly was captain for 5 years. And the kind of job he did as captain, I would add atleast another 2000 runs to his aggregate tally of 7000! But Laxman .... he has always been found lacking and so not surprisingly the axe has always been on his head. He has played his 100th test and has scored 6000 runs at an average of 45 which is not special. He has a poor one day record, ha s never ever been a consistent part of the one day unit. But we still consider him Fab!!!!!!
Then there is another guy: He has played 63 tests (less than 2/3rd of what laxman has played), who already has collected 5000 test runs at an average of more than 52 with a strike rate of more than 70. He has scored two triple hundreds, the last 10 times he has crossed 100 he has gone on to score 150+. He was a middle order batsman but did not hesitate in accepting the tough job of opening the batting when the team was struggling to find one (this was ironically to accomodate Laxman at 6 because Laxman was not willing to open)! The guy has proven record in all conditions, against all countries on every kind of surface against fast bowling as well as spin bowling. He dominated Mendis and Murali when the Fab 4 played like chickens. He has single handedly won more test matches for India than even Tendulkar has!!!!!!!!!!
How the hell can Sehwag not be a part of Fab 4 man!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here's a scenario that has happened an umpteen number of times with Laxman: India are 250 for 4 and Laxman is batting on 40 odd. The batsman at the other end is Ganguly so India lose their fifth wicket soon and the score becomes say 260 for 5. Laxman, instead of retaining more strike and trying to score runs quickly keeps taking singles, exposing the tail. The end result: India gets all out for 300 odd, Laxman not out 50. The guy complains that he runs out of partners every time and so can't score a hundred. Thats Laxman for you.
He is an extremely defensive cricketer. It happened numerous times under Ganguly that India took lead in a test series only to squander it in the next test. Laxman and Tendulkar have been majorly responsible for this: These guys get so defensive in the 2nd innings, their goal is just to occupy the crease and not get out and draw the test. Their aim is not to win the test but just sit on the 1-0 lead. They do not realize that eventually they will get out and that will put pressure on the lower order. The same thing happened in the Nagpur test recently: The openers gave a cracking start, going at 4.5 runs an over and the momentum was with India. Enter Laxman: 4 runs in 40 balls and gets out. Tendulkar saheb, 11 in 53, follow. Momentum shifts with Australia and india are 166-6. I donno what Ponting had in his tea that day, but India could have easily lost the test and again squandered the 1-0 advantage they had. Thats Laxman for you - The ultra defensive cricketer.
One may argue that Ganguly hardly deserves to be even called "fab" with his average of 41 odd. But remember, Ganguly was captain for 5 years. And the kind of job he did as captain, I would add atleast another 2000 runs to his aggregate tally of 7000! But Laxman .... he has always been found lacking and so not surprisingly the axe has always been on his head. He has played his 100th test and has scored 6000 runs at an average of 45 which is not special. He has a poor one day record, ha s never ever been a consistent part of the one day unit. But we still consider him Fab!!!!!!
Then there is another guy: He has played 63 tests (less than 2/3rd of what laxman has played), who already has collected 5000 test runs at an average of more than 52 with a strike rate of more than 70. He has scored two triple hundreds, the last 10 times he has crossed 100 he has gone on to score 150+. He was a middle order batsman but did not hesitate in accepting the tough job of opening the batting when the team was struggling to find one (this was ironically to accomodate Laxman at 6 because Laxman was not willing to open)! The guy has proven record in all conditions, against all countries on every kind of surface against fast bowling as well as spin bowling. He dominated Mendis and Murali when the Fab 4 played like chickens. He has single handedly won more test matches for India than even Tendulkar has!!!!!!!!!!
How the hell can Sehwag not be a part of Fab 4 man!!!!!!!!!!!!
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