Timing the exit of a very very special career

In February- march 2001 the Aussies arrived in India for a 3 match test and 5 match ODI series. Steve Waugh had already called it the final frontier after his team were on a juggernaut winning their last 15 test matches in a row. It was indeed a phenomenal achievement and they wrapped up the first test in Mumbai inside 3 days, winning it by 10 wickets. The second test was at the famous Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It was here that VVS Laxman decided to take hold of his career by the scruff of the neck. He had been a very talented player until then but always failed to live up to his immense talent. He scored a stellar 281 in the second innings after following on and miraculously India beat the Aussies by 171 runs and stopped the Aussie juggernaut. Since then VVS has not looked back and has become one of the top batsmen of his era.

Laxman has always struggled in the shorter form of the game and in his 16 year long career he has failed to play a single world cup match. But it is at the test level where he has excelled in his art. He is easily one of the most pleasing batsmen to watch  when in full flow. There are very few batsmen who can enthrall the viewers with their magical stroke play.  If we had to pick a team consisting of the most pleasing batsmen to watch, Laxman would easily walk in this team among the pantheon of other great batsmen of the game. He has had a fulfilling career scoring nearly 9000 runs at the test level with 17 test hundreds and over a hundred catches. Over the last few years he has carved out some of the most valuable 4^th innings chases and with  his cool demeanor, India has managed to chase some tough 4^th innings scores against top oppositions. His knock of 72 against Australlia at Mohali in October 2010 and his memorable hundred chasing a tough score   against Sri Lanka in the deciding test to level the series in the same year are some of the few innings which instantly come to mind. But having said all this the last 2 overseas tours of England and Australlia have proved that it will be very difficult for Laxman to survive the entire upcoming season. His failure in England was not much of a surprise as he has always been susceptible to the moving ball and with his limited footwork and the tendency to hang  back from the crease was going to create major problems in England. It was in Australlia against his favourite opposition where one thought that Laxman could weave some magic with his effortless sense of timing and subtle wrists but clearly age has caught up with him and even on bouncy and hard pitches which are best suited for his kind of stroke play, Laxman was found wanting.

Nevertheless he is still a very good player and all throughout his career he has been well known for his impeccable timing and it would be very fitting for him to announce his retirement from test cricket after the Hyderabad test against the Kiwis in August this year. It would be the perfect swansong for the stylish Hyderabadi playing in front of his home crowd..One of the striking things about Laxman has been his stellar record against the best team over a majority of his career. His test average against the Aussies is almost 50 even better than his overall test average including 6 test centuries.against his favorite opposition  Over the years Laxman has enthralled the viewers with his languid and imperious stroke play. Add to that his ability to make slip catching look ridiculously simple in test cricket where he has taken some blinders in the slip position. People might argue that he has dodgy knees and it has affected his running between the wickets but he has never been a great athlete over the years and he has had knee problems even when he has been on the top of his game. Having said that I seriously think it is time for him to go, not because there is anybody to replace him as such players cannot be replaced and their value to the team cannot be undermined but because all throughout his career  one of the  aspects which we all have enjoyed is his sense of impeccable timing and it would be very unlike him to stay on for far too long and drag his career. The real aspect is that he has very little to offer as a cricketer at this stage of his career.  This would be a fitting farewell to one of the best Indian batsmen of all time and an even more likeable individual off the field.