Luck’s out for Laxman?

March 23, 2005 at 9:18 pm (Cricket, News)

The third test between India and Pakistan starts a few hours from now at Bangalore and India seems to be thinking about heading into the match with the winning combination from Calcutta. For the last few matches, India’s batting has been shouldered by two men – one the vibrant dasher in Virendra Sehwag and the other a great artist finally winning recognition as a World leader – Rahul Dravid. And then there is the maestro, Sachin Tendulkar. Need I say more about him?

Over the last 15 matches, Rahul has been averaging nearly 70! And Sehwag and Sachin have not been far behind averaging 68 and 66 respectively. Ganguly and Laxman can well thank these three for saving them further ignominy over their repeated failures. Though I think that we’ve been unduly harsh on Ganguly. Today morning, me and Karthik had a brief chat going on about Ganguly’s performance.

CricInfo’s Stats search is a must-use for any cricket statistics lover. The guys there have done a really wonderful job with their search filter options. During his last 10 test matches, Ganguly averages a respectable 37.75 round about the same as Michael Vaughan. And if we bump it up to 15 matches, Ganguly’s centuries at Ahmedabad against NZ and that fighter at Brisbane bump it up to nearly 42. His century at Brisbane actually set the tone for the series and India did so remarkably well.

So, I really felt sorry for Dada as he seemed very defensive about his batting form in today’s interview to CricInfo. Ganguly has been getting decent starts over the last few matches but has been kind of throwing his wicket away after all the hard work had been done. Hope Bangalore turns things for Indian cricket’s most successful captain.

For him the problem has been very similar to the relative truth and absolute truth concept of Mahatma Gandhiji. When Lord Mountbatten asked Gandhi why he seemed to be shifting his statements over time, Gandhi told him this parable. Dip your hand in cold water and leave it for some time. After that put your hand in warm water and your hand starts to burn. Now, wash your hand with very very hot water and then you place it back on the same warm water. Now, the warm water starts to feel colder. Though the temperature of the warm water is the same, it is the actions that preceded that, that made the difference. Similarly, Ganguly’s average has been pretty much the same even in recent times. But, the fact that the Trimurthi’s are averaging in the 70’s has tended to belittle Ganguly’s performances.

But, Laxman on the other hand has truly sucked. He has started failing with such amazing consistency that some runs from him would really surprise many! And his catching hasn’t been all that good recently as well. It is all possibly just confidence. Look at the sea change in KKD’s keeping after his fabulous batting performance! But, how long does Laxman get a run? Over his last 10 tests, he averages just 20! That is definitely not what one expects from one of India’s premier batsman.

And not that the bench strength is lacking. Kaif had a pretty decent series against the pummelling aussies and Yuvraj started off with a century on debut against Pakistan before that failure as opener in chennai forced him out of the team. Both of them have been having excellent domestic seasons. Sridharan Sriram and Dinesh Mongia have also as always been having run sprees in domestic matches. One of them would gladly fill into the No.6 position.

There is only a certain threshold point till which past performances ensure a place in the squad. And the Laxman Rekha is pretty close to being crossed! This bangalore test may turn out to be make or break for Laxman. And past history at bangalore does not augur well for him or any of his other teammates except for the notable exception of Sachin Tendulkar. Ganguly and Laxman both average just 13 in bangalore while Dravid is just a shade better at 19!

Time out from the playing squad is always good as it helps the player focus better. Hayden, Langer and Martyn all did time outside the team and have all come back with a vengeance. And Laxman’s earlier time out in the sidelines resulted in that memorable epic 281 at calcutta. The choices are pretty much clear for Laxman. Either he strikes gold at Bangalore or is sent off to spend time looking for other gold reserves and then come back. Hope it is the former as Laxman is just too good to be wasting his precocious talent away from the international arena.