There was a time when VVS Laxman was a more feared batter in Australia than Sachin Tendulkar. By 2003, Tendulkar had already become a cult figure not just in India, but across the cricketing world, with his heroics against Australia making fans fall in love with him. For the longest time, no batter came close to dominating Australia, home or away, the way Tendulkar did. But that changed in 2001, when Laxman produced a once-in-a-lifetime knock of 281 in Kolkata. Against a bowling attack featuring Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne, Laxman shattered barriers and showed the world that Australia’s invincible side of the early 2000s could indeed be stopped.
One of the bowlers from that attack, Gillespie, is still haunted by what Laxman did to them. Not just in the Eden Test, but also two years later in Australia, when Laxman tormented them once again. Yet, almost 25 years later, when Gillespie sat down to list his five greatest batters, Laxman could only make it as an honourable mention.
“My honorary mention is VVS Laxman. Do you guys remember? Absolutely tore us up in Kolkata in 2001. The 281 against us was one of the best knocks I’ve ever seen. We tried everything but could not dislodge him. I remember some of the shots he played against Warney out of the rough – it was some of the best play against spin bowling I’ve ever seen in my life. It was absolutely nuts. And the way he handed us quicks as well, it was brilliant. Over 8000 runs in Test cricket at 46, he was a wonderful player,” Gillespie told McGrath and Damien Fleming on the ‘Fast Bowling Cartel’ podcast.
“I remember playing the Australian Under-19s. We went around in India, and basically, VVS Laxman played every game. Board Presidents 11, all the youth Tests, and he smacked us for hundreds there. So, I can assure you now, I’m sick and tired of seeing VVS Laxman smacking us Aussies everywhere around. So I was glad to retire, purely so I didn’t have to bowl to him again. He was a wonderful, wonderful player and a great man too.”
For Gillespie, the other honorary mention was Sir Garfield Sobers, against whom he, of course, couldn’t play. But against those he did, he rated South Africa’s Jacques Kallis at 5, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara at 3, The Wall Rahul Dravid at 3, before naming his top two.
“My No. 2, which would be a lot of people’s number one. But for me, it’s Sachin Tendulkar. Nearly 16,000 Test runs at 53.8, 51 hundreds from 200 Test matches, a Test a 100 every 4 matches, which is extraordinary. And then another 49 100s in one day cricket and over 18,000 runs. Just a run-making machine all over the world. Superb cricketer. Sachin was very difficult to bowl to,” added Gillespie.
“But my number one is the great West Indian, Brian Charles Lara. The reason I put him above the others, particularly Sachin Tendulkar, is that with most batters, if you bowled your best delivery, they would play it conventionally. They would either defend it or leave it alone, which allowed you to build pressure through dot balls and patience. But I never felt I could do that consistently with Brian Lara. It all depended on what gear he was in. He could shift from second to third gear in an instant. A ball on top of off stump, your best delivery, could suddenly be carved behind point, whipped over midwicket or flicked behind square. He had this incredible ability to put the bowler back under pressure, probably more than any of the other batters I have listed. That is why I put Brian Lara at the top.”
McGrath reacts
Responding to the list, Glenn McGrath echoed Dizzy’s thoughts
“I agree with your top two. They are obviously two of the greatest players the game has seen. Sachin was unbelievable, mentally so tough. You knew exactly what you were going to get from him every single day,” he said.
“But Brian was a genius. If he walked out switched on, you knew you were in for a long day. He was not always switched on, but when he was, it was game over. That 200 at Adelaide Oval and some of those other hundreds, you could sense it straight away. The moment he got into that zone, there was nothing you could do. He was an absolute genius. Remember that 153 not out in Barbados in 1999? We were reverse-swinging the ball at will and bowling really well, but he still found a way to get them over the line with the tail in a fourth innings chase. He was simply too good for us that day. It was a wonderful innings.”
