When VVS Laxman Saved Ganguly’s Captaincy, Vijay Rath Stopped Kangaroos, Ignored Dada’s SMS

New Delhi. He was not called very very special for no reason. When the team was in a difficult situation, this veteran used to keep the peg at one end. Former right-handed stylish batsman VVS Laxman has given Team India a resounding victory with many of his best innings. Laxman played one of those best innings at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In that Test match, India had equalized 1-1 in the Test series by registering a blistering victory over Australia while playing the follow-on. The iron of this memorable innings of Laxman was also accepted by the then captain of Team India, Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly had even said that this innings of VVS had saved his captaincy.

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Laxman and Rahul Dravid took up the Responsibility of Managing the Innings

In the year 2001, Australia’s team came on India (IND v AUS) tour. Team India had lost the first match of the series played in Mumbai. The second match was played in Kolkata. The situation was not good for Team India in this match. Host India was forced to follow on. For the fifth wicket from India, Laxman and Rahul Dravid took the responsibility of handling the innings. Both shared a partnership of 376 runs. Laxman scored 281 and Dravid scored 180 runs. With the help of both the best innings, India won the Kolkata Test match by 171 runs.

‘…then We Would have Lost the Kolkata Test Match’

When Laxman wrote his autobiography, he named the book ‘281 and Beyond’. When this book was released in Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly jokingly said that he was disappointed with the title of the book. Ganguly then said, ‘I had SMSed him (VVS Laxman) a month ago. But he didn’t answer. I told him that this is not an appropriate title. According to me, its title should have been 281 and beyond that saved Sourav Ganguly’s career. I was not in favor of this title because if he did not play an inning of 281 runs, we would have lost the Test and I could not become the captain again.

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Team India Stopped the Winning Campaign of Kangaroos

India had stopped their 16-match unbeaten campaign by defeating the Kangaroos in the Kolkata Test. Then Australia won 16 consecutive Test matches under the captaincy of Steve Waugh.