Taking a trip down memory lane, legendary Indian cricketer VVS Laxman has recalled his side’s 2010-11 tour to South Africa featuring the then 37-year-old master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and pace spearhead Dale Steyn.
In his autobiography 281 and Beyond, Laxman talked about how some of the limited-overs regulars were rested for the five-match ODI series against New Zealand in 2010, so that they could train well at Gary Kirstin’s academy in Cape Town for the succeeding three-match Test series against South Africa.
“The Tests against New Zealand were followed by a five-match ODI series, but the BCCI rested a host of limited-overs regulars so that we could travel to South Africa to practice at Gary Kirstin’s academy in Cape Town. In the past, we had taken time to hit our straps, so the idea was to get used to the conditions in South Africa by the time of the first Test in Centurion,” he said in his book.
The former Indian batsman recalled how he had to delay his travel to Cape Town after picking up spasms because of continues training to counter South African pacer Dale Steyn.
“I had been working hard on countering the craft of Dale Steyn, so I probably batted a little more than I should have, which led to the spasms. After plenty of attention from Ashish Kaushik, the new physio at the NCA, I flew out to South Africa four days behind schedule and linked up with the guys in Cape Town, where I batted indoors a lot with Gary and Paul Close, the national team physio, keeping a close watch,” wisden.com quoted Laxman as saying in the book.
However, to his dismay, the first Test against South Africa in Centurion didn’t turn out well for him as he was dismissed cheaply for seven off Steyn’s beautiful out-swinger in the first innings before he was bowled out for eight in the second innings. India went on to lost that match by a huge margin of an innings and 25 runs.
“Centurion was a complete disaster. We lost Zak (Zaheer Khan) to injury the day before the match and had to bat in unimaginably challenging conditions. We were skittled for 136. Jacques Kallis replied with a classy 201 not out, his first Test double hundred, to stretch South Africa’s lead to 474, and a massive defeat loomed. I was bowled for seven in the first innings by a beautiful out-swinger from Steyn, and in the second innings was caught for eight playing an extravagant drive that I edged to gully. But Sachin and MS Dhoni battled hard to delay the inevitable,” he recalled.
Laxman, in his autobiography, also recollected how India once again relied on Tendulkar’s heroics during the Centurion Test and how the master blaster continued to display batting with supreme authority despite playing for the country for 21 years.
“Batting with supreme authority, Sachin made an astonishing 50th Test century. He was 37 years old and had been playing for the country for 21 years, and yet the desire remained undiminished. It was both exhilarating and humbling. After all these years, and despite the presence of other quality batsmen, we continued to depend heavily on his heroics. I didn’t think it was fair that he alone should carry the burden even at this late stage of his career,” he said.
The 44-year-old further revealed that he, in fact, told Zaheer as to why Tendulkar should alone score runs and that why he couldn’t contribute to India’s victory.
“The team was scheduled to spend a couple of days in Sun City, but wary of potential damage to the back from the travel, I opted to stay back in Johannesburg. Taking a cue from me, Sachin, Viru (Virender Sehwag), Zak (Zaheer Khan), Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) and a couple of others skipped Sun City too. Our friend in Johannesburg, Kiran, organised nets for us and we had a fruitful couple of days. I remember whining to Zak, ‘Why should Sachin alone have to get runs all the time? Why can’t I contribute more to the team?’ Laxman recalled.
Though Laxman also failed to score a century in the second Test against South Africa in Durban, he scored notable scores of 38 and 96 in the two innings to guide India to an 87-run win in the match to level the three-match series.
“Another hundred missed, but I would have taken that 96 any day. It came on a demanding track against a top-class attack, and no other batsman from either side had touched even 40. More importantly, it boosted our lead to 302. Zak and Sreesanth were brilliant in the second innings, the latter producing a snorter to account for Kallis and make possible one of the memorable photographs of the tour—the batsman airborne, his head arched back, the bat thrust in front of his face in self-defence,” Laxman said.
He added, “The 87-run win helped us square the series, with the decider to follow in Cape Town. For the fourth time in five months and seven Tests, I had delivered when we had our backs to the wall. For the third time, I had played a key part in our victory.”
Laxman was eventually declared Player of the Match for his significant contribution with the bat and the legendary batsman admitted that the award was indeed fulfilling.
“As I cradled the trophy in my hands, Zak whispered, ‘Happy now?’ My back survived the thumps from my friends, and Gary couldn’t stop smiling. He had labelled me Mr Comeback Man. He was a big fan of Michael Bevan, the Australian batsman who could pull off ODI victories from out of nowhere, a miracle worker if there was one. As we savoured our success at Kingsmead, Gary told me, ‘You are the Michael Bevan of Test cricket’,” he recalled.
The third Test between the two sides in Cape Town ended in a draw.
