Success and failure are part of life - Laxman

VVS Laxman talks to V V Subrahmanyam in the Sportstar about his rise as a young cricketer from Hyderabad to one of of the mainstays of Indian batting for more than a decade

What were your biggest moments as a cricketer?

There were many. But some stand out. Though I never played the World Cup that saw India as the No.1 team, being a member of the Indian team which was the world No.1 in Test cricket was one of them. The 281 against the Aussies in Kolkata in 2001 was another. That Test remains the most memorable match for me. In fact, that Test series was very special for all the players for it was also the best and the most memorable series. That series gave us the confidence that we can be the best. Clearly, the turning point of Indian cricket itself.

Akshay Sawai in the Open writes that Laxman's impact would never be measured in his stats, but always in the flair that he brought to the game.

Try as you might you cannot avoid mentioning wristiness when talking about Laxman. It was his USP, the voice, of his batting, or ‘batsmanship’ as the purists might prefer. Dhoni, who at one point would use metaphors from the world of cars to speak about the Indian team, might have wondered what lubricant Laxman used for his wrists.

His uncle R. Baba Krishna Mohan, writing in the Sportstar, relives Laxman's early days in cricket, when he had spotted the skills, the elegance and the hand-eye coordination that the world recognised as he played stellar knocks for India later.

We had a cemented front-yard at our home, ‘Shyam Vihar’, where I used to play a lot of cricket. As they grew up, Laxman and his elder brother (Rama Krishna) took to cricket and whenever they came home during the weekends or during summer vacation we used to play the game. One thing differentiated Laxman from the rest of us — his elegance and natural ability to quickly pick the ball and hit it on the up. He loved the game too much, had uncanny hand-eye coordination and a natural flair and style. We all used to love watching his natural skills and I used to always tell my sister “He will become a great player”. I also wanted him to quickly go for coaching since he had the skills and capability to make it really big.