VVS Laxman is the last person you’d expect to find enmeshed in a controversy yet three times in the past couple of weeks his name has found a place in the Chappell-Ganguly controversy. Most famously, his outburst after scoring a century in Bulawayo, overshadowed by Ganguly’s disclosure the next day. ‘‘There have been some negative vibes in the team and outside and I just wanted to prove myself’’, he’d said, a rare moment of candour for a very private person. There was also the case of a board official blaming Ganguly for Laxman’s exclusion from 2003 World Cup squad, a statement subsequently denied, and on which Laxman himself reserved comment. Now comes the e-mail bombshell: That he was the victim of alleged mindgames by Ganguly. With typical forthrightness he took the matter to Chappell but the matter, the coach says, remained unresolved. These controversies apart, the Hyderabadi has been the subject of perhaps the longest-running debate of the past couple of years: Does he deserve to be in the one-day side or not? And its rider, should he bat at his favoured No 3 in Tests? The man himself has always maintained that if he ever thought much about the treatment he has received, he would lose focus on the game. ‘‘That is why I always try to be as positive as possible,’’ he keeps saying. He once told this reporter how, during John Wright’s stint, he had his share of problems in the team. ‘‘I sorted it out as soon as possible. It is not good to have differences of opinion within the team (especially with the captain or coach). It affects the overall performance,’’ he’d said. “It seems clear that if Laxman had to speak about ‘‘negative vibes in the team’’ in Zimbabwe, the unfair treatment — perceived or otherwise — meted out to him there was more than he could take.”
