Laxman: Squaring the Trinity

How? 8216;8216;It8217;s simple8217;8217;, says former Indian batsman and selector Chandu Borde. 8216;8216;His performance in the recent past has taken the pressure of the others8217; shoulders; the result is consistency by the batting order on the whole. In the past, it took three people to fail for an Indian collapse. Now it takes four. And because of Laxman8217;s quick-scoring ability, the others can relax and play their natural games.8217;8217;

With Laxman, they8217;ve all got into their groove 8212; even if Tendulkar appears to have gone off the boil. Anshuman Gaekwad puts the pieces in place: 8216;8216;Now we have Dravid the stayer, Tendulkar, who can turn a match around on his day, Ganguly to keep up the tempo and such a sweet, sweet timer of the ball in Laxman. Forget individuals, what8217;s happened to India is that we have four men in the middle-order who can walk into any team, which is a combination of defensive and attacking play, and which is young and experienced at the same time.8217;8217;

Expanding on it, former all-rounder Madan Lal says, 8216;8216;All of them have always had different roles. We have four solid batsmen, and their roles are different because of their respective characteristics. The more important role is their collective role. One gets out, another takes over. They can all play defensively and aggressively. Basically, they are all performers and everybody8217;s role today is more flexible.8217;8217;

It8217;s the technique, says former India batsman Salim Durrani. 8216;8216;He is that rare cricketer who has the technique to come good anywhere, on any surface. He is an upright sort of player and that allows him to adjust. Especially, unlike other Indian batsman, on bouncy pitches. From what I have seen of him, his technique is very flexible and so he can adjust to situations.8217;8217;

The fourth batsman in the Indian middle-order isn8217;t there to make up the numbers anymore. Laxman8217;s there to raise his hand. And redefine the roles of the other three batsmen.

No 3s: The Top 5

SAURAV Ganguly claims he has a side that can be No 1 Test team in the world. At least he has the No 1 No 3. History shows that champion teams have had champion batsmen in the No 3 position.

Here are the five greatest:
Don Bradman: The Greatest. Played on uncovered pitches and through Bodyline but will remain at the top of the heap
M: 52
Runs: 6996
Avge: 99.94

Viv Richards: The King among batsmen, the greatest of his era. Well backed up by opening pair of Haynes and Greenidge; More than just a pivot, he was the heart of the champion West Indies in the late 70s and early 80s
M: 121
Runs: 8540
Avge: 50.23

Wally Hammond: Bradman8217;s English rival; primarily an opener but batted enough times at No 3 to justify his inclusion here. One of the greatest, hit his runs on either side of World War II
M: 85
Runs: 7249
Avge: 58.45

George Headley: To many, the Black Bradman. First of the great West Indies batsmen and was also the first black man to lead the West Indies. His career was short but his exploits were awesome: in a 22-match Test career took his team to five wins, scoring four centuries in those matches
M: 22
Runs: 2190
Avge: 60.83

Ian Chappell: The template for future Aussies with attitude, led the way as batsman and captain in the early 70s and formed the backbone of famous Australian line-ups of that era.
M: 75
Runs: 5345
Avge: 42.42

THE CHALLENGER: If Dravid is the top No 3, then Ricky Ponting isn8217;t far behind. He8217;s one of th many reasons Australia rule the world today. Always positive and forever looking to cash in on starts by Langer and Hayden
M: 73
Runs: 5461
Avge: 54.06

Chandresh Narayanan