Magical VVS Laxman!

Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman, "The God of fourth innings" or should I say "Very Very Special"?

VVS Laxman's batting was the one for the Gods. This Hyderabadi batsman's strokes were as easy as they come. And his penchant of pulling out extraordinary from time to time was the stuff of legends.

His tendency of coming up with his best against the best and the "Never say die" attitude, even in the disaster says a lot about the character he was.

Looking at his test average of 46 with 17 centuries, one who haven't seen him bat, would say "what's great about this, man?". But VVS laxman's career is and never was about the numbers. One should have to watch him bat to understand his greatness. Those wristy flicks! Goodness. VVS Laxman was one of the few cricketers who could potentially play the same ball to both sides of the wicket.Those extravagant pull shots! The ease with which he used to play his shots surely puts him in the elite panel.

Have a look at this scenario, to understand VVS magic!

Shane Warne, the greatest leg spinner ever, on a turning subcontinent wicket, bowling outside leg stump, from round the wicket, to a right hand batsman with a packed leg side field. I bet, no batsman would even think of playing the drive through extra cover. But VVS laxman dispatched that balls to boundary through extra cover on numerous occasions during his epic 281 at eden gardens.

He was the fierce fighter, who always put his hand up whenever the great indian top order failed to deliver. He was the vital cog in india's success in Test cricket during 2001-2010. Happy Birthday to the Magical VVS Laxman!

Jacques Kallis - The Ultimate allrounder

      Jacques Kallis, undoubtedly the greatest cricketer of my generation, atleast I think so. All the Sachins, Pontings and Laras may weight higher than him as a batsman, but as a cricketer, he tops them all. Sir Garfield Sobers is regarded as the greatest all rounder of all time by cricketing fraternity, but having seen Kallis play I can say that he wouldn't be far behind.

      Over 10,000 runs in both tests and ODIs with over 250 wickets in both formats is no child's play. Add his immense ability as a fielder to that and you will get a perfect allrounder that every team dreams of! A saviour and a protecter with the bat in hand, a perfect fifth bowler's charm, and one of the safest in slip cordon. Jacques kallis was good for south Africa most of the times. 

       Though he had an excellent ODI career, his test career is the one that puts him in elite panel. 13289 runs at an average over 55, with 45 centuries! Third highest run getter of all time in test cricket. Second on the list of most number of test centuries. These are the figures that can make anyone jealous of him as a batsman.

        He was the main pillar of south African batting line up for more than a decade. Always a player to watch out for opposition. A consistent performer. And a commander in chief whenever South africa achieved the greater heights. An ODI cricket world cup would probably be the only thing that Kallis will regret in his otherwise luminous career. Being an indian, I would always have Dravid or Sachin as my hero, but Kallis was as good as anyone else in the game. Thank you for your contribution to world cricket. Happy birthday king Kallis!

Rahul Dravid :- A True Inspiration

Here is an incident about Rahul Dravid which shows you exactly how he was as a person. He truly described the saying "THERE IS NO SHORTCUT TO SUCCESS."

1996 January. Bengaluru. Conditioning camp of Indian cricket team. Azhar's team for ODI world cup will be announced later that day. Punjab opener Vikram Rathore was hopeful about getting a chance. After the team announcement, I went to Rathore's room at night to note his reactions. He was devastated for not making the cut. He made the following remarks: "I can't imagine they left me out. How can they? How can I forget this pain?" He later added, "My roommate(Rahul Dravid) is peculiar, he had no reaction at all. No disappointment, nothing. He(Rahul Dravid) heard the team, said: 'Oh, I'm not in it' and went straight out with his kits."

Fifteen years later, one night at a restaurant in Kolkata, Rahul Dravid  would explain his silent exit from that Bengaluru hotel : "What could I have done? Cry loudly? Leave cricket? I quickly calculated (that) I'm getting four Ranji matches before team selection for the next England tour. I told myself not playing the world cup means you need four centuries in those four matches. (I) did that."

-- Goutam Bhattacharya, an expert from Anandabazar Patrika

And we all know what happened next, Dravid was selected in the test squad for five match series against England in England. Selection of Rahul Dravid in the test squad for England series was the outcome of his consistently scored heavy runs in previous domestic seasons. "Where there is a will there is a way."

 June 20,1996. Second Test match of a five match series against England. Dravid, who didn't got a chance in first test despite scoring a fifty in each against the Gloucestershire and the Leicestershire county in the tour games was finally going to make his debut in second test due to the ankle injury to senior batsman Sanjay Manjrekar.

In his first match itself he has shown the sign of becoming a successful Test cricket, But who would have thought that this young man is going to be the finest no. 3 batsman ever! Coming at no. 7 he scored a majestic 95 on the classis track of lords, missing the century on debut and getting his name on lords' honour board by just 5 runs!!

He made his Test debut on 20th june,1996 and the rest is the History!!! 

RAHUL DRAVID IS NOT ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS!

"RAHUL DRAVID IS NOT ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS"

          Rahul Dravid took a single off the first  ball of a new spell by Glenn McGrath and watched from the non-striker’s  end as Mohammad Kaif battled for survival over the next five deliveries. 

It was October of 2004. The city of oranges was in full bloom,  celebrating the end of a hot summer and licking its lips at the prospect  of a citrusy winter. At the VCA stadium, India,  led by Dravid, was trying to save the “final frontier” on an unusually  green pitch from a marauding Australian team that had already won the  first Test in Bangalore.

 Tottering at 75-4 in reply to Australia’s first innings 398, the hosts  had reached a point on the second day of the match where the Kaif-Dravid  partnership was the only thing that could, perhaps, save them from  imminent defeat. 

At the end of that rare mid-afternoon over from McGrath, the batsmen met  for a conference in the middle of the pitch. “He’s bowling out of his  skin,” Dravid said, and Kaif, having faced five unplayable deliveries,  smiled back in agreement. 

“It’s going to be tough,” he continued, “but we have a chance if we can see off this spell. Otherwise it’s all over.” 

Kaif said he would do his best, but Dravid told him that he had a better  plan: For the rest of McGrath’s spell, Kaif would stay at the other end  against Warne, while Dravid would take on the might of the Australian  fast bowler playing his 100th Test. 

This, Dravid hastily explained, was not a reflection on Kaif’s calibre  especially since he had been in good form over the last couple of  months. It was just something that he, being the more experienced  player, needed to do at this pivotal moment of the match. 

“It’s settled then,” Dravid said, waving away any polite opposition that  Kaif may have had. “No more singles until McGrath is in the attack.  Forget about the scoreboard. You stay put at your end. I will see him  off from this side.” 

Dravid scampered across to the business end off the second ball of Warne’s next over and resolutely marked his guard. 

Over the next 18 deliveries, McGrath and Dravid were engaged in a kind  of battle that defines Test cricket. McGrath tried everything to entice  Dravid into playing a false stroke, to get him to fish outside off, to  york him, and to take him by surprise with a short ball. Dravid,  stubborn and determined, soaked in the pressure, lunging forward to pat  away deliveries directed at his stumps, and refusing to go near anything  more than an inch outside off. 

“It was a spell of bowling that is best watched from the non-striker’s  end,” Kaif said later. “I can’t think of any other batsman who would’ve  volunteered, let alone insisted, to do what Rahul was doing.”

 India scored six runs in the next five overs (a two and a four off Kaif’s bat  against Warne) as Dravid cocooned himself from temptation. In the  commentary box, the experts criticised him for going into a shell, for  being over-defensive, for appearing to be clueless against quality  bowling on a seaming track. They didn’t realise that Dravid had assessed  the situation and chosen to face the firing squad alone. 

This cat-and-mouse game went on for the next twenty minutes. Two more  overs, Dravid told Kaif at the end of McGrath’s third, and we’ll be home  dry. “He’s starting to get tired now.” 

Kaif patted out another maiden, and Dravid negotiated the first five  deliveries of McGrath’s next over without mishap. But McGrath, by now  aware of what was going on, got a ball to leave Dravid ever so slightly,  and kiss the edge before flying straight to Warne in the slip cordon. 

The scoreboard recorded an innocuous 140-ball, 173-minute 21 against Dravid’s name. India lost the match two days later. But this numbers can not describe the kind of innings it was! 

In the end, it was a small, almost insignificant knock: a tick in the  failures column for a batsman who has succeeded against fiery spells all  over the world. But it showed that he always, unfailingly, even during  his forgotten innings, put the team before himself. More than his  ability, or his records, it was this that made Rahul Dravid special.