We have talked about all the great batters of the golden generation of Indian cricket such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag but there was one man who was left out but no more. VVS Laxman, the man for the middle order for India and especially against Australia he was at his best. He is the current head of the National Cricket Academy which churns out young and fit players for India. We will talk about his Records below.
VVS Laxman played 134 Test Matches for India in his career which is among the highest and in those Matches he scored 8781 Test runs at a very good average of 45.97 and he got 17 Test match Hundreds in his glorious career. He also played ODI cricket as well and in the 86 ODI Matches he played for India he scored 2336 runs at an average of 30.76 and he got 6 ODI hundreds to his name. Let’s look at the Top 5 Best VVS Laxman batting Performances.
281 vs Australia (2001)
There are a lot of Batters whose best ever innings is tough to choose but not VVS Laxman. This innings of 281 is not only the best innings in his career but in my opinion the best ever innings played in the history of Indian test cricket history. Australia in the first innings of this test match got 445 runs and in reply India were Bowled out for 171 and Australia followed on hoping the most he won and in that situation to play this innings for your nation is something that happens once in a blue moon. He batted almost 2 days and he faced 452 balls and he hit 44 fours all around Eden Gardens and against Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and the Captain Steve Waugh used 9 Bowlers in this innings. This innings defined VVS Laxman and he became an instant superhero for all fans.
Also Read | Best Mahendra Singh Dhoni innings
167 vs Australia (2000)
Even though India lost this match badly it was this innings that gave VVS Laxman the confidence that he belonged at this stage and it is one of his best ever knocks because no other Indian batter could stick around against such hostile bowling. India were bowled out only for 150 in the first innings and in reply Australia posted a mammoth 552 runs and in the third Innings it was VVS Laxman who faced only 196 balls for his 167 and one hit 27 fours and struck at a strike rate of over 84. Truly a remarkable batting performance.
Also Read | Best Rahul Dravid innings
148 vs Australia (2004)
As I said earlier, the majority of VVS Laxman best batting Performances came against the best team that time which was Australia but this one was special as it came in a winning cause. It was the same Adelaide where Rahul Dravid was the star, but in the first innings that India batted it was VVS Laxman who gave him the perfect support as they both made a big partnership and Laxman made 148 from 282 balls with 18 fours in the Innings. It was one of his best overseas performances.
Also Read | Best Sachin Tendulkar Test cricket innings
124* vs New Zealand (2009)
This is the first performance in this list that did not come against Australia but it was a special match saving performance from him. India were under the pump in this match and they had to save this test match and Gautam Gambhir was batting brilliantly at one end but at the other end it was VVS Laxman who gave him great support and made an excellent 124 from 212 balls with 25 fours meaning 100 runs in boundaries out of 124. Je stayed not till the end and India saved this test match.
Also Read | Best innings of Suresh Raina
107 vs Pakistan (2004)
There might be ODI scores in his career where he has made more runs but in this match vs Pakistan in Pakistan the Innings that VVS Laxman played is his best in ODIs for me. To play against such a potent bowling attack which had Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Abdul Razzaq and score a match winning 107 from only 104 balls with 11 fours and hitting at a strike rate of 102.88 and in the end India won the match by 40 runs and he was the difference between the two very good sides.
Also Read: Best Virender Sehwag Innings
