Will the real Laxman please stand up?

March 14, 2001, will forever be remembered by Indian cricket fans as the day India stood up to be counted. V V S Laxman and Rahul Dravid scored 335 chanceless runs against a bowling attack that was widely regarded the best in the world by far.

"Very Very Special" Laxman zoomed into the Wisden Top 100, a list our very own modern day god, Sachin Tendulka has not been able to break into. This shy Hyderabadi was said to be India's next big saviour, and the 'Big Three' of Indian batting had now become the 'Fab Four'!

Circa 2002, a few home and away series later, all we get, is a feeling of déjà vu. Unfailingly, what we get from Laxman is a few sparkling cameos of 30, played with utmost ease and gay abandon. He promptly throws it all away with a shot, which seems to suggest that the person who got the 281 was god masquerading as Laxman.

Wither the man who was effortlessly churning out 300s for Hyderabad? What of the man who was driving Warne through covers from sixth stump on the leg side? Images of his blade punching McGrath through covers and lofting a pumped-up Gillespie with effortless ease through midwicket seem so blurred. Sigh!

Why, pray, why is this happening?

Complacency? Ever since that blazing Australia series, Laxman's place is the most certain in the Indian squad after Tendulkar's. Even in India's choc-a-bloc batting order, he commands a place as India's premier No. 3 batsman in both forms of the game. Of course, Dravid and Ganguly's indifferent form also has helped. Has this certainty led to a loss of will? Nothing like a couple of young and talented batsmen snapping at your heels to keep your form and will going. Ask the Aussies! With no obvious threat to his place, Laxman seems to have become that much less hungry, and once you start losing that hunger as a batsman, you have lost most of what you have.

Concentration? Some naturally gifted people have this problem; they just refuse to grind it out! Things come so easy to them that they find it almost menial to roll up the sleeves and fight it out, knowing fully well that there is always this next chance when their talent will pull them through. Laxman's 30s are as heart-breaking as they are breathtaking. Even as you sit back and enjoy those astonishing strokes, you can sense that lapse in concentration lurking just around the corner, when he is going to hang his bat out to dry outside off.

Responsibility? For a man who has been in international cricket for quite a while now, the quantum of ownership and responsibility bestowed upon him seems to be alarmingly low. When the knowledgeable talk about senior Indian cricketers, guess whose name never features in that list? Isn't it time for this immensely talented cricketer to own up a lot more, be responsible for India's performances on the field, and play a key role in shaping India's cricketing fortunes?

His critics would list many more reasons, even willing to write him off as another GR Vishwanath, a maverick who shone brightly, but just didn't do enough to justify his unquestionable talent. But Laxman is a man who has seen all of this before, and is undoubtedly trying his hardest to turn the clock to not-so-long back, when the world was at his feet, and he was dancing at will.

However..

As with most things in everyday life, there are certain internal factors you can control, and there are certain changes in the environment, which force you to adapt. One such refreshing change in our cricketing arena is the emergence of competition. In spite of all the reports about India's bench strength (or the lack of it), there are at least four-five batsmen who, with a couple of good performances in the Ranji Trophy or at international level, can seriously threaten the established Indian middle order.

Mohammed Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Hemang Badani, Rohan Gavaskar, and Jacob Martin are just a few names that come to mind immediately. While it remains to be seen how successful these gentlemen are in the international arena, what it has ensured is that the existing stars are kept on their toes. And this can only be good for Indian cricket in general, and Laxman in particular.

Laxman is a proud man, who revels in adversity, and nothing like this challenge to spur him onto greater deeds. A classic case of free market competition bringing out the best from all concerned.

One of Laxman's greatest achievements to date has been the number of big hundreds he has scored in India's domestic league. As Sachin Tendulkar would be the first to admit, scoring a triple calls for immense concentration and staying ability, irrespective of the level and quality of the opposition. Laxman has proved time and again that he has oodles of staying power. The key for him is to now translate that into high scores in the international arena. He has got some big hundreds already, notably the 167 in Sydney and the 281 in Kolkota. The common factor in both these innings is that they have been back-to-the-wall innings against quality bowling.

Maybe Laxman's concentration flags just a little bit against slightly inferior opposition. Nothing that a few long stints in the nets, and a couple of knocks for Hyderabad in the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy won't solve. There is no way that Laxman can't score a big hundred or three against Zimbabwe and England in India. He is too good not to do that! He owes India that. And that's just for starters.

One of the biggest revelations of the Challenger Series has been Laxman's captaincy. His handling of the bowling and fielding placements was refreshingly confident and different, making Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly look sadly insipid in comparison. His involvement in the game went up several notches, and he looked a natural, so much in control of proceedings. Is that a pointer of things to come?

Sourav is clearly struggling to keep his place in the side as batsman, and therefore his captaincy is falling by the wayside. With no one else in sight that wants to or is capable of captaining the squad, Laxman's performance in Bangalore must have caught a few important (read selectors) eyes. And if Laxman's record with Hyderabad is anything to go by, he does not seem to let his batting get affected by the captaincy pressures. Not that he is ready to captain India rightaway. He really needs to add that one dimension which Sourav has in ample measure, Aggression. Maybe, a couple of series as vice-captain, and being made part of the "core" management would help.

Laxman has got the talent to go places, and become one of the all-time greats for India. He is already one of India's best players of spin, if his demolition of Warne is any indication. He is easily the team's best slip catcher. He knows what he wants, and is prepared to stand up for it, like when he was repeatedly asked to open despite his obvious discomfort. He's got his way, and it's all up to him to show the rest of the world that there is more to Laxman than those wristy flicks.

Will the real Laxman please stand up?

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Mail Ashok Karanth