Elegance in turmoil

How classical genius Laxman is trying to come to terms with the slam-bang nature of Twenty20.

Ala Hazrat 8211; or his exalted highness, as the Nizam of Hyderabad is referred to in history books 8211; was known for his laid-back ways. Old-timers who lived their lives in the vicinity of the Charminar will tell you how the ruler and his dynasty helped the city adopt the distinctive manners and habits it has grown to be associated with.

Two of Hyderabad8217;s favourite pastimes are feasting on Biryani 8212; which takes close to five hours to cook 8212; and sipping Lamsa 8212; tea made from leaves imported from Iran. As far as cricket goes, their heroes fell into the same lazy, elegant bracket, be it Mohammad Azharuddin, ML Jaisimha or now, VVS Laxman.

There8217;s one thing they had in common: Like most things Hyderabadi, they never seemed to be in a hurry. All three played the ball late, used their wrists to an amazing effect, captained Hyderabad, averaged between 43 and 47 in Tests and rarely crossed a strike-rate of 75.

As the Hyderabad Cricket Association HCA secretary puts it, 8220;On a perfect day to watch cricket, it8217;s only batsmen like them who could make the game look better.8221;

New obsession

Today, the fever of Twenty20 has gripped Hyderabad. Both the Indian Cricket League ICL and the Indian Premier League IPL have seen fans queuing up at the stadiums. Players such as Shahid Afridi, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs have been recruited as 8216;locals8217;.

And yet, it is VVS Laxman who happens to be cheered the loudest. The Deccan Chargers website has seen some anti-Laxman messages, but not once has the right-hander been booed at the ground 8212; even as his team lost three matches at home and he8217;s struggled to come to terms with this extremely short format.

8220;He8217;s not one for masala cricket. We8217;re sure he8217;s playing here because he is Hyderabad8217;s biggest name in cricket,8221; says a fan at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium.

No big rush

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Change, nevertheless, is unavoidable, and the demands of T20 have put Laxman in a position of rare discomfort where his genius 8212; based on respecting the good balls and punishing the bad ones 8212; has had to be shelved. 8220;I scored 37 off 26 balls,8221; he said ahead of one of his recent games.

If anything, it was embarrassing to hear that from a batsman who has given the mighty Australians sleepless nights. In their last home game, he cracked 48 off 34 balls, and in the one after that 8212; away in Bangalore 8212; he got 52 off 44. Journalists on both occasions amused themselves by checking if the Hyderabadi had ever scored faster.

The good thing about the runs he has scored is that he hasn8217;t fallen into the mindless hitting trap. He8217;s spent most of his career proving he could fit into one-day cricket as well. This, for him, is just another challenge. And while he8217;ll be desperate to set the record straight over the next one month, the Hyderabadi in him won8217;t be in a big hurry to do it.