We have never given VVS the stature he deserves

Not that the scrapping is bad,not that the stolen second run is impure,it is just not him,not his world. When he was slogging in the IPL recently,his bat speed awry,his body tilted at strange angles for strokeplay,the leg moving out of line to hit over mid-wicket rather than coming languidly towards the ball to stroke it past cover,he looked like a cheap imitation of the original. It didnt become him. It was an artist trying to enter the world of commerce; a world that pays millions to those who dont bat like him.

And he is understated,another disqualification from the world of commercial endorsements. When he uses the alphabet i it is only because it is in the middle of the word win. He loves winning,he loves contributing to a win but he is unlikely to be nudging someone to be in the first row of the photograph. And so while the big cheques dont always appear something else does; respect in his dressing room and in that of the opposition; like it does with Naseeruddin Shah while the big cheques go to Salman Khan! But respect never goes out of fashion,it is something all performers crave for and he has it in abundance.

For a major part of his career,he has batted at number six. It means the tail is a stones throw away. It means the boundary riders are out for him,offering him the single to attack the rest. It means he stays not out more often; once every sixth innings almost,compared to about one in ten for Tendulkar and one in nine for Dravid. You might argue it boosts his average but the innings rarely go as far as they might have gone. Hence,only sixteen centuries. Hence too,the change in batting style; from a free stroking player to someone who must guard his wicket and prolong the innings. Number six is a difficult position to bat in if you are a batsman who doesnt bowl because your numbers rarely look as good as those who precede you.

That is why he has had to walk the selection tightrope far too often for a player of his ability. That is why many believe he has been under-rated. Down in Australia,they think we are daft but we have never bestowed on him the stature we have with Tendulkar,Dravid,Ganguly and more lately with Sehwag. And so everytime there was a new kid on the block,the attention shifted towards Laxman. And yet in the last two years (from 1st January 2009 to be precise),he has scored a century ever 4 Test matches and averages 80.

Remember too that he doesnt play any other form of cricket at this level. It means he has to lift his game enormously for standards of first class cricket in India are poor and quite simply,he wouldnt have played enough. It is an assignment that can be daunting for most and something he will have to live with for the rest of his career. Nobody knows how long that is going to be. He might have the spine but his back is asking too many questions and his knees arent his best friends.

Many years ago a young Jonty Rhodes was batting with the legendary,but ageing,Graeme Pollock. After Jonty had called him for one single too many,the great man called him mid-pitch and told him Young man,the athletics stops now and the cricket begins!

The athletics may have stopped for VVS Laxman but the cricket continues to be magical. His place in the pantheon is assured.