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V. V. S. Laxman
India
Personal information
Full name	Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman
Nickname	Very Very Special
Born	1 November 1974 (1974-11-01) (age 33)
	Hyderabad, India
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm off spin
International information
Test debut (cap 209)	20 November 1996: v South Africa
Last Test	13 August 2007: v England
ODI debut (cap 112)	9 April 1998: v Zimbabwe
Last ODI	3 December 2006:  v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1992 – present	Hyderabad
2007	Lancashire (squad no. 26)
Career statistics
	Tests	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	83	86	193	166
Runs scored	5083	2338	14450	4944
Batting average	42.71	30.76	51.79	34.57
100s/50s	10/29	6/10	42/65	9/27
Top score	281	131	353	131
Balls bowled	258	42	1685	698
Wickets	1	0	20	8
Bowling average	105.00	–	35.35	68.50
5 wickets in innings	–	–	0	0
10 wickets in match	–	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	1/32	–	3/11	2/42
Catches/stumpings	90/–	39/–	210/1	72/–
As of 20 October 2007 Source: Cricinfo

Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman pronunciation (help·info) (born November 1, 1974, in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh), better known as V. V. S. Laxman, is a member of the Indian national cricket team and Lancashire County Cricket Club

As a batsman he is noted for his superb timing and ability to hit against the turn against spin bowlers. His batting style is similar to the more famous Hyderabadi, Mohammed Azharuddin - whom Laxman says is his role-model.

Six feet two inches tall, Laxman made his Test debut in 1996, hitting a fifty against South Africa at Ahmedabad. However, he was subsequently unable to cement his place in a star-studded Indian middle order. Instead, he was asked to open the innings, starting in South Africa in 1997. Laxman intermittently continued in this role for nearly three years, but without any consistent success. In January 2000, he made 167 against Australia at Sydney, a rare high point for India in an otherwise disastrous tour. Despite this success against an attack containing both Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, Laxman apparently decided that he would return to domestic cricket, rather than continue playing as opener, a role which he believed did not suit him. As a result, Laxman was out of the Test team for nearly a year. He was recalled in late 2000, and also found a spot in the side for the home series against Australia in 2001.

V. V. S. Laxman's career performance graph.

Laxman's career changed dramatically in this home series against Australia. In the first Test at Mumbai, Laxman made 20 and 12, as the entire Indian batting line-up, with the exception of Sachin Tendulkar, capitulated, leading to a 10-wicket defeat. In the next Test, however, Laxman shot to fame with an extraordinary Test innings of 281 in the second innings (following on) against Australia at Eden Gardens, when under tremendous pressure, he broke Sunil Gavaskar's long standing record of 236*.^[1] This remained the highest ever by an Indian until it was eclipsed by Virender Sehwag's triple ton against Pakistan in Multan in March, 2004. The innings also contributed to a record partnership of 376 with Rahul Dravid. Laxman's performance was of enormous consequence: India had been on the brink of an innings defeat but went on to win the Test and the series, denying Steve Waugh conquest of the "final frontier". It has become one of the most celebrated tales of Indian cricket, and the innings is ranked the sixth best Test innings ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.^[2] Laxman then cemented his place both in the Test and one day teams for a few years. He has continued to perform well against Australia, especially during India's tour of Australia in 2003, in which he hit three ODI and two Test centuries. One of his centuries, his 148 in the second Test at Adelaide, came in a triple century partnership with, once again, Dravid. India won the Test, which was their first Test victory in Australia in two decades. His sublime innings of 178 at Sydney also came in a triple century partnership, on this occasion with Sachin Tendulkar. For this reason, Ian Chappell described him as Very Very Special Laxman.

However, Laxman's form has declined since that tour of Australia. Since March 2004, beginning with the series in Pakistan, Laxman has only made only three Test centuries, with one of them coming against Zimbabwe, currently ranked the worst team in Test cricket. He even struggled against his favorite opponents Australia in the home series in October-November 2004, although his 69 in the final Test at Mumbai helped India record a consolation victory, having lost the series. Laxman was even dropped after scoring a duck in the first Test against England at Mumbai in March 2006. He regained his place for the tour to the West Indies, thanks to an injury to Tendulkar, and made a hundred in the third Test. In ODI cricket, Laxman has been left out persistently since Greg Chappell took over as coach in mid-2005, mainly on account of his poor fielding, but also a perception that his batting is too one paced for ODI cricket. This is despite his superb form in Australia and Pakistan in early 2004, when he made four centuries in 14 games, including three in a week in the VB Series in Australia. In November 2006, he was selected for the test squad along with Sourav Ganguly for India tour of South Africa series.He passed the 5000 run landmark in the first day of the final Test against England in the 2007 tour.
After the tests he joined Lancashire as their overseas player in place of Brad Hodge. He played in five games of the county championship and showed glimpses of his sublime batting in their final County Championship game of 2007 against Surrey at the Oval in which he scored 100 off 100 balls in the second innings in which Lancashire were chasing 489 to win. They just missed out by 25 runs and subsequently lost the Championship to Sussex. His performance for Lancashire was good with 380 runs scored in 5 matches at an average of 54.28 with 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries^[3]

In India's home series against Pakistan in 2007, VVS Laxman once again showed his importance to the team with a disciplined batting performance in the 1st Test^[4]. He then followed that innings of 72 in the first test with 112 in the second test.^[5]. This ensured his place on the tour to Australia which would be his 3rd tour to the country, and also silenced his critics who believed that Yuvraj Singh should be in the first XI in place of VVS Laxman.

He married G.R.Sailaja, in February of 2004 and the couple conceived a son, Sarvajit, in March 2007.

1. ^ http://ind.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2000-01/AUS_IN_IND/SCORECARDS/AUS_IND_T2_11-15MAR2001.html
2. ^ http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2001/jul/30bat100.htm
3. ^ http://stats.cricinfo.com/lancashire/engine/records/batting/highest_career_batting_average.html?class=4;id=2007;team=1167;type=season
4. ^ http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/297806.html
5. ^ http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/indvpak/engine/match/297807.html

• Cricinfo Player Profile: V V S Laxman
• Google Video: V V S Laxman's 281 vs Australia