Cometh the hour,cometh the Laxman

What is it about VVS Laxman that puts him in the pantheons of modern-greats?

What is it about VVS Laxman that puts him in the pantheons of modern-greats? The supple wrists have been seen before,many have scored more than 16 Test centuries and others too have been a thorn in Australias flesh. The aura too dwindles as compared to many others in the star-studded Indian line-up. But just take a look at the scorecard of the last three Test matches that Laxman has played in,and the answer comes screaming out. Cometh the hour,cometh the man.

Whether it is Colombo,Mohali or Ahmedabad,when the chips are down,trust Laxman to bail the side out. It must be spine-chilling to walk into bat when Gautam Gambhir,Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid are all back in the hut for a total of two runs. But within the swirls of intense pressure and chaos,Laxman makes himself at home,as he showed on Monday.

Laxman found himself in the unenviable position of bailing his team out of the ashes once again,as wickets tumbled around him in heaps on the penultimate day of the first Test against New Zealand.

Batting along with Harbhajan for almost the entirety of Day Five,the contagious calm of Laxman spread to his off-spinner partner,as the two stitched together an epic rearguard show of 163 runs.

This wasnt the first time that Laxman answered the call when the team needed him the most. Having been in a similar position against both Sri Lanka and Australia this year,Laxman battled hell and high water to forge scintillating victories for his side.

Take Colombo for instance. India stumbled to 62/4 while chasing 257 for victory when Laxman swaggered out into the middle. Along with Suresh Raina who was playing his first Test series Laxman demonstrated what it took to be the No.1 side in the world. An unbeaten 103 runs from a blade later,India had pulled off a miraculous five-wicket win. Although India didnt win on Monday,Laxman ensured that they didnt lose either.

Laxman did what he usually does,make scoring runs look ever so easy New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori said. Laxmans greatness lies in the fact that he plays with the same positivity in every innings. That is the sign of a true genius, Vettori added.

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The same genius had showed against Australia in Mohali,when he had to play with Indias long tail. For partners he had fast bowler Ishant Sharma who he inspired to score 31 and spinner Pragyan Ojha who he yelled at to remain not out at all costs,and the teethy Laxman smile was there for all to see when his unbeaten 73 chased down Australias target of 216,by one wicket. As Ricky Ponting frowned,Laxman made beating them look easy yet again.

According to Harbhajan,the experience of batting with the tail came in handy in Motera. I watched how he had batted with Ishant and Ojha in the past and knew that he would make life easy for me too. I may have won the Man of the Match,but it actually belongs to Laxman, Harbhajan said.

Like in the past,the awards and the centuries may have stayed away on Monday,but like several time before,cometh the hour,cometh the Laxman.