My Favourite Cricketer: VVS Laxman by Minal of Granger Gab

We've invited some of the very best cricket writers and bloggers to tell us why certain players stand out for them above all others.  This week, Minal of Granger Gab and The Sight Screen writes of the most stylish Indian of them all, a man whose nickname was the ultimate compliment: VVS Laxman.  Minal tweets @granger_gab, and we really suggest you follow her.

 As much as we love to deny it, we all have a secret crush - the one we adore but won’t admit because it would mean sharing loyalties with our one true love. My favourite cricketer has always been and will always be Rahul Dravid. When the Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch team asked me to pen a piece for this series, I saw that Rahul was already spoken for, and thought it best to write about my secret cricketing crush – the Very Very Very Special Laxman.

In fact VVS Laxman is the secret crush of every Indian fan. He is the guy that unites the Tendulkar, Dravid and Dada fans alike. VVS the last of the Fab Four to hit the scene - his batting - exquisite, beautiful , elegant - a delight to watch; one that could tempt many a staunch supporters of any other cricketer to commit infidelity when it came to this man.

After witnessing the birth of two future batting stalwarts at Lords 1996, India wasn’t quite prepared for the sublime batting that would put her in a trance for the next 16 years.

November, 1996 Motera – Ahmedabad Vs South Africa

On a devilish pitch, probably one of the worst test wickets, a young man of 22 held fort in the second innings to get 51 after India has conceded a small lead of 21 runs. No Indian batsmen had got a 50 in that match barring this young lad. When I was watching him bat, the teenage me turned to my dad and asked “Papa since when did the rules allow a batsman to bat twice in the same innings, why is Azhar playing again?” Laxman reminded me of Azhar then– still does; the silken grace, the wristy shots on the on-side, the gift of impeccable timing. These batsmen from Hyderabad seemed to be blessed with a batting style as delectable as the Biryani from that land.

But sadly as has been the case with Indian cricket, a permanent place in the packed middle order was always going to be tough. Ganguly came back from his injury and VVS found himself out of the side in the 3rd test of that series. VVS was later asked to open and he never really succeeded in that position; but his affair with Australia started at that very position. In the 99-00 tour VVS wove his first spell of magic on the Aussies at Sydney. He decimated the Aussie attack single-handedly. His 167 in a team total of 261 was intoxication at its best – even today while revisiting the innings you will drown in the beauty and wide array of strokes on display - the ease in his batting, the delicacy of his wrist play. As a friend once said, “Sachin is God, but there are strokes that Laxman plays at times, which Sachin would only dream of.” I have never dared to debate with him on this point.

Post this series and the one at home against South Africa, Laxman put his foot down and refused to open. He went back to the domestic grind, scored big hundreds and forced the selectors to consider him as a middle-order bat. After a year, Laxman came back to the Indian side and the rest as they say is history. VVS’s 281 Vs Australia in 2001 still gives me goosebumps when I watch the VCD of the match. He was the only one who put his hand up in the first innings – getting 59 in a team total of 171 and the last man to be out. Trailing by 274 with the test and series loss looming large, VVS walked in at number 3 and scripted a miracle along with Rahul Dravid. What he achieved with that knock did not merely amount to an Indian victory to be stored in cricket’s record books, with it he restored the shaken belief of a billion Indian fans. In that one knock, he truly reflected the attitude that John Wright and Ganguly were trying to build into this team – to make them world beaters; he showed that his team was not the one to give up, had the courage to conquer all demons and withstand all attacks. That knock laid the first brick to India’s success in test cricket – of achieving the Numero Uno position. In that one knock – Laxman weaved his magic forever on us.

My Favourite Cricketer: David Boon, by Jimi Stephens

In our continuing series "My Favourite Cricketer", World Cricket Watch's Jimi Stephens takes on the legend that is ... Boonie.

Allan Border has been taken. S.K Warne and Rahul Dravid are gone too. I thought about the Waugh brothers, and even the charismatic Carl Hooper was an early contender. But, delving back into my most formative of cricketing experiences, I found a short, roundish bloke with a killer moustache and looked no further. Here’s why……

Boxing Day Test, 1994. I was 11 years old and sitting with my older cousin and my grandma in the members reserve at the MCG. All morning I’d been swinging around in my seat, to see if the window to the Australian dressing room might open enough for me to catch a glance of Mark Waugh or Flemmo or anyone. But, nothing.

http://www.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/66600/66679.jpg

That year we were sitting as close as you could to the dressing room, just in the row beyond the chained off area where I think close friends, family and partners got first dibs. We’d won the first test in Brisbane and this was day 3 of the match. Our seats on the opening day were no-where-near this close so my autograph book was halfway out of its holster. Clink. The door opened to reveal Boony in all his glory: singlet on, massive gold chains vying for priority over his impressive tufts of chest hair, legs resting up on the window ledge, pads on and, in his right hand, something I was not expecting; a ciggie. David Boon, my idol, was smashing a dart! In fact, in the time I watched him, he must have smashed about 5! I couldn’t take my eyes off this spectacle. I think Tubby Taylor hit a four which my Grandma applauded but I couldn’t stop watching as Boony sucked in hard on dart after dart, blowing the smoke out into the member’s reserve. Then it happened. He saw me watching. I waved. He did not wave back. Instead he took an extra long drag on his fag, and blew a smoke ring in my direction.

In retrospect, I found Boon’s smoking endearing – ala Bob Simpson talking about his addiction on an Australian current affairs program, Today Tonight. However, my idolisation of the plucky Tasmainan started well before that. I just loved the way he could hold a pose, bat raised as high as he could, having just whipped one backward of square. Other players instintcs had them setting off soon after making contact with the ball but Boon was content to ‘save his legs’ and trust his power and placement. Whilst I was never that strong on my legs, I did buy a Gray Nicholls Ultimate 750 Limited Edition and after very careful photo analysis, positioned sports tape at the neck of the bat exactly as David Boon had it. In later years, I did buy into the folklore of Boon too, the 52 beers on the flight to England being the obvious example here. For those interested, Dean Jones’ account of this Australian Folk Tale is worth tracking down. However I do not advise trying to replicate this effort. Sinking a shitload off piss is a skill I have, but I am barely even able to get significant bum fluff on my face at 27 years of age and I reckon you need a handlebar to even attempt that!

 ain’t gonna list his stats here, not becuase I’m lazy but, well, you’re on the net right now so look ‘em yourslef. Suffice to say though that for his time, Boon’s test average was very bloody good, second only to Alan Border when Boon called it a day. His one day record is impressive also, maybe most notable for his best afield efforts in the 1987 World Cup final against the Poms at Eden Gardens and in the dead rubber against the Windies at the MCG in the 1992 World Cup. He wasn’t a technically brilliant player and he wasn’t elegant either. He was however, a belligerent upper order batsmen who was called upon ad nauseum to steer Australia through batting collapses and take the shine off the new pill. I can actually remember (at three years old!) first hearing about him from my Grandmother who had listened to the tied test in Chennai in 1986 and was talking to me about Dean Jones’ outrageous effort that saw him hospitalised after spending a total of five hindred and two miuntes at the crease. I had only one question for Gran “Who was up the other end?”

Getting back to Boxing Day in ’94 though: Boon had a spectacular match. He made 134 in the second innings which was a very nice knock to watch and he moved like Dhal Sim from Street Fighter to catch a ball at short leg to give Shane Warne his hat-trick. 

But I remember Boon from this match because he blew a smoke ring at me.  Probably not the best thing to do to an 11 year old kid but hey, it’s not like I copied everything he did……now where’s my lighter?

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My Favourite Cricketer: Sourav Ganguly by Christopher David

Throughout this summer of cricket and beyond, Balanced Sports and World Cricket Watch are inviting cricket writers from around the globe to tell us who they consider to be their favourite cricketer. Today we delve into Poshin’s World as Christopher David selects the ‘Prince of Calcutta’, Sourav Ganguly.  
Image (c) courtesy of guardian.co.uk

Being an Indian cricket lover in the current era is a privilege (besides the last couple of months admittedly).  Never has the Indian team looked so good and Indian cricket's last decade has without doubt been its highest point.  In that time, a bunch of ragtorn boys have matured into a machine intent on winning at all cost; over the course of the journey winning T20 and ODI World Cups and been the number one Test team for 20 months straight.  Never has cricket been brighter for the Indian fan and I feel all this success has been made possible due to the dream of a man known as the ‘Prince of Calcutta’.

Sourav Ganguly is my favourite cricketer.  In a country boasting mountain-sized legends Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Anil Kumble, he is the one I adore more.  Why?  Let me explain.

Ganguly wouldn’t win any ‘most loved cricketer’ awards.  He has his share of critics, doubters, and haters.  As a player who always tried to be the best he could be and one who expected to win at all costs even if it did mean overstepping the line a little, he played not to make friends but to win.  The opposition found some of his tactics quite immature, but the man wasn’t to change.  He stuck to his guns and remained one of India’s true princes till the end.

Born into a very rich family, young Sourav Ganguly lived luxuriously, lacking little.  Cricket wasn’t always Ganguly’s dream as he was first seduced by football, but once his brother - who played for Bengal - introduced him to the game, the maharaja we now know was born.  Ganguly the right-handed batsman transformed into a left-handed batsman so that he could actually use his brother’s kit!

His rise was fast and by 1992 was wearing the blue of India.  He didn't have much initial success and was soon dropped, recalled in 1996, to make his Test debut against England.  He scored a century at Lords and established himself as a player for the future.  His century in the very next match re-established that fact.  From then on, Ganguly went from strength to strength with 183 against Sri Lanka in the ’99 World Cup his highest point.


It wasn’t until 2000 that I actually started to notice this man, when he took over the reins of the Indian team after the sport plunged into disrepute.  With a strong desire to win he groomed a set of young men he thought fit to be in his team and tried to put Indian cricket back on the road.

The 2001 series against Australia was special in so many ways, and it was then when Ganguly and the Indian team truly started to believe they could achieve the impossible.  The foundation was laid as India embarked on a new road with a proud skipper who wanted the best for his team, and a Kiwi coach supporting him.  Within three years of the match-fixing scandal, Ganguly's men made the final of the 2003 World Cup.  Ganguly had put a new Indian outfit on wheels and rolled the wagon proudly in the international parade.

As a person, Ganguly is a proud human being who will never ever back down from a fight.  This is reflected in the cricket he played and the way he led the team.  Ganguly was adamant on having players like Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh in his team irrespective of what others thought.  Rumour has it he had played Harbhajan only once in the nets before when he asked for his inclusion in the 2001 series against Australia.  I doubt whether these players would have ever made the team had it not been for Ganguly.  Also, being a fighter, Ganguly never let any moment go and was always in the opposition’s face trying to get under their skin.  Coming in his own time to the toss, and his aloofness in observing certain traditions earned Ganguly the name ‘Lord Snooty’ by Wisden writers.

As a cricketer who wore his heart on his sleeves, Ganguly spared no one.  Even his own team mates weren’t spared. As a skipper, he demanded everything from his players.  He was a cruel task master who also possessed a sense of humour. When asked whether he was a ‘good bad boy’ or a ‘bad good boy’ in an interview, he smiled and replied, ‘why don’t you answer that?’

Controversy and the name Ganguly seem synonymous and that's probably one of the reasons he is so disliked.  The Greg Chappell incident was unfortunate, left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and many Indians were offended at the fact a foreign coach had the nerve to sack Dada – the maharaja of India.  Ganguly’s 2007 comeback really earned my admiration.  Against all odds, he fought his way back into the team to play under the same regime that only years before oversaw his exit.   It was now that the older, wiser and more mature Sourav emerged; one who for the first time set aside his ego to become a mentor for the younger players.  The steely resolve with which he played and proved doubters wrong made the man responsible for his sacking admit that he had never seen Sourav play better. Ganguly finally bowed out of international cricket, but the sagas continue in the IPL.

“On the off-side, first there is God, then there is Ganguly” Rahul Dravid on Ganguly.

For me, Ganguly will always be the Bengal tiger who taught India that it could indeed play with the big boys of cricket.  He built a team which not only believed, but tasted that very principle.  Being India’s best left-handed batsmen has its own accolades, but in my mind, his off-side shots will linger forever in my memory.  Though his technique against short deliveries may have been his undoing, but 18000+ runs in international cricket is the stuff of fable.  Who can forget him dancing down the wicket to spinners to loft them over long on?  Has anyone played the great Muralitharan better?  I highly doubt it.

Aside from his seemingly myraid faults, Ganguly's impact on Indian cricket has been colossal. Despite all the controversies, you can hate or love the man called ‘the prince of Calcutta’, but you he remains impossible to ignore.  I’ll forever love and cherish cricket's bad boy.

Christopher tweets @poshin_david



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My Favourite Cricketer: Rahul Dravid by Sujith Krishnan

In today's installment of "My Favourite Cricketer", Sujith Krishnan takes a look at that most overshadowed of Indian batsmen.

Coming from India, I'm sure it surprises many that my favourite cricketer is not the little master, Sachin Tendulkar. However his understudy is often overlooked, a champion who has serenely gone about his business in the most religious manner, happy to remain in the shadows of his more illustrious team-mates Ganguly, Tendulkar and Sehwag. He's the most celebrated wall after the Great Wall of China but could be better known as Mr. Dependable. For nearly twenty years, Rahul Dravid has acted as India's spine and remains the player to whom the country turns when it finds itself in a critical situation.

He burst onto the scene with a brilliant performance in a Test at Lords against England in 1996. He managed ninety-six while batting at six in what would now be regarded as a typical Dravidesque performance. He's rarely been dislodged since: he's the only Indian to have scored a Test century in every Test playing nation andis also one of those rare cricketers whose ‘away’ batting average is higher than at home. Though he plays every shot in the book, he may not possess the skill and talent of Tendulkar or the destructiveness of Sehwag but is elegant, proficient and commanding in his own right.

Rahul Dravid isn't someone who often takes the attack to the opposition. His style is determined and occasionally veers towards the mind-numbing. But that style effectively takes the heart out of opponents in a politically correct, workmanlike and utterly conventional way. Often where others fail, he has supported Indian expectations, always holding up his end, often while other batsmen play their shots around him. It's not his size, skill or panache which is imposing, but his presence.

While known popularly as "The Wall", perhaps he would be more accurately called "The Floor", for it is him on whom Indian innings are built. He has glorified this unspectacular role for over 15 years against all comers and, more importantly, raised his game away from home. On faster pitches, he often became the foundation on which nothing was built as his teammates were destroyed by steeple and speed. Rahul Dravid can play this role because he knows his own game: to bat to one's strengths and never be perturbed by aggression and flamboyance shown by partners or bowlers at the other end. He values his wicket as he would his firstborn, making opposition bowlers dismiss him strategically rather than due to a rash shot. 

At the scale at which Dravid amasses runs, choosing his best knock is a futile exercise - there are so many, under so many varied conditions and circumstances. However, one must mention his 180 againstAustralia at Eden Gardens in 2001 during one of the most dramatic Test matches in history. He and VVS Laxman came together with the team facing a 250-run deficit and by the end of the following day, the unbeaten duo had built a lead of 384, paving the way for India’s most historic Test win. Having been heavily criticized by former players and commentators prior to the match, Dravid’s gesticulated celebration towards the commentary box on reaching his century was probably the only occasion I can remember where his emotions got the better of him thoughout his entire career. 

Another match-saving effort was his 233 in Adelaide in 2003. Arriving at the crease after India had lost four quick wickets, Dravid batted like a warrior to give India an outside chance of winning their first Test match in Australia for 22 years. Outside chance begat a victory and, fittingly, it was he who hit the winning runs. He followed this in the historic series against arch-rivals Pakistan by scoring a majestic 270 in the decisive Rawalpindi match to win India the series. In cricket, or almost any sport, the ability to thrive under pressure is the most respected and desired character trait. Not only did Rahul Dravid survive under those pressures, but he relished the chance.

Despite being one of the best, The Wall hasn't been an automatic inclusion in the ODI team for some time. With a nickname like that, who's surprised?! Though he didn't make the squad for the World Cup this year, find me someone happier at India's success - you won't. He had contributed to India's ascent to the top, one of the elite group to score over 10,000 runs in both forms of the game, and it was time for him to relax and enjoy.

You'd not hear him quote statistics like that, though. It would be brash, unseemly and uncouth to brag about one's achievements, not something a gentleman and team-player would do. For India, no-one else has batted in every position from one to eight as well as wicket-keeping as he did at the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. In typical Dravidesque fashion, he used the opportunity to evolve into a world-class closer.

My favourite memory of Rahul Dravid is not of an shot, innings or result. It came as captain when he declared in a 2004 Test against Pakistan at Multan. It seems a perfectly normal thing to do - declare when your team is in a winning position. Not when the darling of India, Sachin Tendulkar, is not out on 194. But when The Wall thought it gave India the tactical advantage to close their innings, he did so amidst the expected outcry of a billion horrified fans. It takes a wall to deflect so much criticism, which left him, Sachin and the team unruffled.

Rahul Dravid is happy to watch India succeed from within and from the outside. He can be proud as the foundation for much of India's recent success. Without doubt, Rahul Dravid is one of the best to have ever graced Indian cricket fields and a perfect role model to aspiring cricketers. Moreover, he is an embodiment of discipline and integrity, someone who has never rested on past glories and constantly strives for excellence.

Every monument to achievement starts with a Wall. 

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