On November 1, 1974, Former Indiabatter VVS Laxman was born to V. Shantaram and V. Satyabhama in Hyderabad. Laxman broke into domestic cricket in 1992/93 with his First-Class appearance for Hyderabad. After two years, he also made his List A debut for Hyderabad. In 1996, he was selected for the three-match Test series against South Africa. Playing his maiden game, he notched up 51 runs from his bat in the second innings. India won that game by 64 runs. In 1998, Laxman also made his ODI debut for India against Zimbabwe in Cuttack.
In 2001, VVS Laxman produced the best innings of his Test career against Australia at the iconic Eden Gardens. Following 445, India got dismissed 171. The Aussie side enforced a follow-on on India and the home side were
in massive trouble again as they lost four wickets at a score of 232. However, in the crunch situation, Laxman stepped up and he got support from Rahul Dravid. Both batters stitched a 376-run stand for the fifth wicket.
Laxman went on to score 281 runs in 452 balls while Dravid also amassed 180 runs off 353 deliveries. Riding on their knocks, India posted 657/7 and Australia were tasked to chase 384 runs. Laxman’s knock emboldened Harbhajan Singh’s confidence as the spin wizard wrecked the visitors’ batting attack and helped India win the game by 171 runs. Laxman also became the player of the match (POTM).
VVS Laxman’s international retirement and association with Sunrisers Hyderabad
Laxman retired from international cricket in 2012 after playing 220 international matches across all formats. In Tests, he is the fifth-highest run-getter for India with 8781 runs in 225 innings in 134 Tests.
Laxman was also associated with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He delivered his service to the franchise as a mentor from 2013 to 2021. During his stint. Hyderabad also lifted the coveted trophy in 2016. Currently, Laxman is the National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief.
