A Very Very Special advertisement

The modern trend is for batsmen to celebrate their centuries in a way that, through accident or design, gives prominence to the back of the bat – and the sponsor's logo on it. Trust VVS Laxman to buck the trend. When he pointed the back of his recently sponsored bat on reaching his 17th century, at Eden Gardens, he wasn’t doing it for any financial gains. At the toe end of the reverse of the bat was the lettering “sisj.in” – a reference to the website of Virender Sehwag’s new school-cum-sports-academy near Delhi, the Sehwag International School at Jhajjar.

“Viru came to me with the request to promote his school,” Laxman told the Indian Express. “I readily accepted. I am just trying to promote his venture.” It was a typically canny choice by Sehwag: despite a 15-month century drought Laxman, with an average of 111 in Kolkata, was the likeliest man to raise his bat at Eden Gardens.