VVS Laxman Didn't Care Who's Bowling At What Pace: Brett Lee

VVS Laxman and Australia. Tell me if there is a better love story than this? Laxman was an artist masquerading as a Test match batsman. Unlike other batsmen, Laxman’s batting was like a free-flowing river. It almost felt that he carried a paintbrush hidden inside his bat when he walked in to bat on a cricket field.

Laxman always saved his best against the Australians- the then reigning champions of world cricket. And, that is the quality of champions. Bigger the challenge, the more they rise to the occasion. And, Laxman almost always rose to the occasion.

Former Australian legendary fast bowler and someone who had a plethora of memorable battles with the ‘Very Very Special’ man himself, Brett Lee recently opened up on what made Laxman such a great player.

“He had that cheekiness about him and that cheekiness in a batsman is hard sometimes because when they’re cheeky and on the song, they don’t care who’s bowling at what pace, they’ll get through it and they’ll make you pay and hurt. And VVS sort of had that knack of knowing when a person’s about to get through his spell. He would get through the tough time and then cash in when need to. It was great fun to bowl against him,” Lee said.

Also Read: VVS Laxman Recounts When Sachin Tendulkar Staged His Redemption Against Shane Warne In Chennai 1998

VVS Laxman was a constant pain in the back for Brett Lee and his fellow Australians throughout his career

The Australians got the first taste of VVS Laxman’s flair during Brett Lee’s debut series in 1999-00. After having gone through a lean run, Laxman turned up the heat in the very last innings of the series by painting the Sydney Cricket Ground with his sumptuous strokeplay. He racked up a masterly 167. India lost the Test match but in Laxman, they unearthed a talent who would go on to terrorize the Aussies throughout the next decade.

Laxman followed that 167 with a masterly 281 at the Eden Gardens in 2001 to help India script a miraculous heist. He would then go on to inflict more pain on Australia courtesy his 148 in Adelaide and 178 in Sydney in 2003-04. And if these knocks were not enough, seven years later, he would help India snatch a win from the jaws of defeat courtesy another brilliant inning in Mohali in 2010.

Also Read: Sachin Tendulkar Used To Toy With Shane Warne At Times: Brett Lee