On this day in 2001, 16 years ago, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid stitched together a partnership vs Australia at Kolkata's Eden Gardens that inspired India to one of their most memorable and famous Test victories of all time
VVS Laxman. Pic/ Imtiyaz Khan
It was today in 2001 that Indian batsman VVS Laxman hit his epic 281 vs Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He thus became one of the key architects of India's historic 2001 Kolkata Test win.
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Eclipsing several other great individual knocks, Laxman's masterly innings of 281 against Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata was been rated as the greatest Test performance of the last five decades.
The honour was accorded to the Hyderabad stylist's fabulous series-turning knock after India trailed by 274 runs on the first innings, by his fellow-players, commentators and journalists in a poll published in the January issue of ESPN's digital magazine the Cricket Monthly, a media release said.
Laxman, promoted to no. 3 after his first innings' 59 out of a team score of 171, came up with his magical innings and also added 376 runs for the fifth wicket with Rahul Dravid (180).
India were tottering at 232/4 when Dravid and Laxman came together in the middle and then went on to script cricket history.
In the process he also posted the highest individual Test score by an Indian at the time. Being placed in a tough position with a follow-on, Laxman took on the responsibility to take his team to safety. His score came off 452 deliveries and included 44 boundaries. His 376-run fifth wicket partnership with Rahul Dravid, who scored 180 runs, took India to a total of 384. India didn’t lose a single wicket on day four of the match and ultimately India won the match by 171 runs from the brink of defeat. This also ended Steve Waugh's record-winning streak of 16 Tests.
Rahul Dravid during his historic knock against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001. Pic/AFP
VVS Laxman's record-breaking 281 at No.3 overshadowed Dravid's contribution. Discussing his partnership with Dravid, Laxman had told mid-day in an interview, "It was one of the most important knocks Rahul has played for the country. He was down with viral fever before the start of the Test. To come into a match in that physical state, and play such an important knock in a pressure situation only shows how mentally tough Rahul is."
A slew of records fell during the duo's knocks
Laxman's 281 was the highest ever score by an Indian in the history of Test cricket til lVirender Sehwag posted his triple century. But Laxman had at Eden surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's mark of 236, which the little master made against the fearsome West Indies at Chennai.
The partnership between Dravid and Laxman bettered the highest partnership for India for the fifth wicket. The previous best for the same wicket was 214, between Mohammed Azharuddin and Ravi Shastri against England in 1984-85.
The partnership was also the highest for any wicket by an Indian pair against Australia, beating the 298 (unbroken) for the sixth wicket that Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri put together in the 1986-87 series.
Laxman's score was also the highest score by any batsman at the Eden Gardens, surpassing the 256 made by the great Rohan Kanhai in the 1958-59 series.
This was undoubtedly Laxman's most epic batting performance. Pic/Suresh KK
In his tribute, one of seven by participants in the Test, leg spin legend Shane Warne recalls: "I was bowling in the footmarks and Laxman was hitting the same ball through cover or whipping it through midwicket. It was so hard to bowl then."
Ricky Ponting remembers that "his work through the leg side in particular was a source of wonderment to many of us... Ultimately we bowled for near enough to two days at him without even looking like getting him out."
This was only the third time in Test cricket history, that a team following on came back to win. It was all due to three outstanding individual performances by off spinner Harbhajan Singh (13 wickets including India's first hat-trick), VVS Laxman (281, India's highest score to date) and Rahul Dravid (180) and their record fifth wicket stand of 376 in the follow-on.
It was described by many experts as the greatest comeback in Test cricket.
India's VVS Laxman (left) is congratulated by Rahul Dravid after scoring 200 against Australia at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2001. File Pic
Laxman remembers the inside-out shot he hit off Shane Warne through the covers in the post lunch session of Day Four was very special because he was bowling round the wicket into the rough. And he still has kept the bat with which he played that Test match with.
Other Indian players to feature in the top-20 list include Rahul Dravid’s 180 versus Australia in 2001 (at number 14), Virender Sehwag’s 309 against Pakistan in 2004 (at number 9) and Dravid’s 233 against Australia in 2003 (at number 4).
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