VVS Laxman Names His Best India XI Against England

The personality of former Indian cricketer, VVS Laxman is challenging to describe. However, the following quote from Harsha Bhogle somehow reflects the character of the self-less cricketer.

“Always the Artist, Never the Superstar”

Vengapurappu Venkata Sai, aka VVS Laxman, was a pillar of the Indian team in his days. Known for his solid defence and sublime timing, he was on occasions compared with his idol Mohammad Azharuddin when it came to strokes on off-side. He was simply a nightmare for the opposition.

When it came to piling runs for the Indian team, nobody knows it better than him. Be it Rahul Dravid or Ishant Sharma, Laxman had the skill to stitch partnership with both.

His wrist position was a treat to watch. There is no second opinion that they still receive applauds from the cricketing world.

Laxman averages 45.97 in 134 Test matches and has 8781 runs for India which include 17 centuries, 56 half-centuries and two double centuries.

VVS Laxman’s best Test XI of India from last 25 years

In his conversation with ESPN Cricinfo, VVS Laxman picked his best Indian XI from last twenty-five years that can challenge England in their condition.

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— Syed Yasir Hussain (سید یاسر حسین) (@YasirSpeaks) August 28, 2018

He decided to go with Virender Sehwag and Murli Vijay as openers. On the pivotal number three position, the cricketing great selected a similar kind of batsman. The former skipper of India, Rahul Dravid got the honor to occupy the place at number three.

On number four, he decided to go with Indian great, Sachin Tendulkar. He has 100 centuries in international cricket apart from scoring the highest runs in Test format as well as ODI.

On number five, he went with present skipper, Virat Kohli.

Laxman made Sourav Ganguly as skipper of his side. Though an opening batsman, he feels that Sourav is a perfect match for number six.

He added MS Dhoni as wicketkeeper-batsman of his team. Dhoni was the former skipper and one of the most successful captain of Team India.

He gave the bowling unit keys to three top bowlers of India. He selected Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Bhuvneswhar Kumar as his pace weapons. From spin point of view, he decided to go with Anil Kumble.

Laxman’s best Test XI of India (1993 to 2018):

Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan.