Is Laxman a great batsman?

[Dissector]

I have generally thought of Laxman as being one level below greatness. After his recent performances against Sri Lanka and Australia I have to wonder if it's time to rank him among the batting greats; not at the same level as Tendulkar/Lara/Ponting but nevertheless an authentic great.

Looking at his stats, if you remove the small number of tests when he was a makeshift opener his record is impressive; he averages almost 51 (over 101 tests) and almost 50 outside the subcontinent with 40+ averages in every country.

Obviously his 281 is a legendary innings and a strong contender for the greatest of all-time. His two recent fourth-innings knocks were remarkable too and important in the context of the no.1 team timing fighting hard to keep its place. Without him India would probably have lost 2-0 to Sri Lanka , at best drawn 1-1 against Australia and by any reasonable analysis lost the no.1 spot.

I think Laxman has done enough to become an easy pick for the no.5 spot in India's all-time team and enough to be considered a great batsman. What do you think?

 

[vcs]

Obviously depends on one's definition of great. I have always considered him "great" in my book after watching some of his innings because he has a touch of strokemaking genius that even the Tendulkars and Pontings do not have (no disrespect to any of them). To produce that so often against world-class opposition, with India under the gun qualifies him as a great for me.

 

[Dissector]

Obviously Laxman has always been a beautiful strokeplayer but the same is true of Mark Waugh and David Gower and I wouldn't call them greats. A few months ago I would have put Laxman in the same category but his last two, career-defining innings have changed my mind.

 

[vcs]

So typical of Laxman's career that his two career-defining fourth innings knocks should get upstaged in the very next Test by a 22 year old young gun and Tendulkar as he sits out through injury. However, you are right, many people will rate him much higher based on these two innings, even though he has done this sort of thing for India several times before. Just not in such high-profile and dramatic situations.

 

[kingkallis]

Laxman is a classy player whose knocks usually remains silent.

His 167 in Sydney, 281 in Kolkota and last 2 knocks against SL and Aussie certainly speaks for the classy Heydrabadi.

He is one of the greatest stalwarts of Indian cricket in my book.

 

[vcs]

Also, Laxman gets compared with Gower and Mark Waugh but I'm not entirely sure whether it's just the grace and elegance of his strokes that really sets him apart. Obviously that's a part of it. But for me, it's the sheer unpredictability of watching an on-song Laxman, in conditions where everyone else is struggling, that amazes me. With his wrists and balance, he can hit two virtually identical balls to two different parts of the field for boundaries. He can see gaps in the field that mere mortals couldn't dream of, and what's more, find them. What's a captain supposed to do to stop that? Other prolific boundary hitters like Sehwag/Gilchrist/Ponting have their strengths that you can try to avoid bowling at, you can try to contain them. With Laxman you can get your lines and lengths and field placements right and he can still find the boundary regularly. He's a lot like Lara in some ways actually.

 

[aussie]

Yea i'd call him a great. Ever since his breakout test in Calcutta 01. He has averaged 52 scoring runs on roads & vs tough attacks in helpul conditions, high pressure 4th innings chases. Definately one of the few non FTBs of the 2000s era.

Wouldn't put him in a Indian ATXI middle-order though. Still would have Viswanath & Hazare ahead of him. Laxman, Azharruddin & Vengsarkar are battling it out to come in case of injury.

 

[robelinda]

Great player to watch, but he's played in the same era as everyone else this lats decade- a run scoring decade and he hasnt come close to matching other players. Sure he;s played some amazing knocks and i love watching him, but if he;s that great he should be able to score runs to match the other great batsmen of the last decade, or even his era. His average has never got to 50, now people say Jayawardene is not that good, 50 or no 50 average, too may easy runs, well Laxman has been found wanting on so many occasions in the 1st innings, a handful of winning 4th innings knocks doesnt change that. If he;s played in the easiest batting decade then why hasnt he cashed in? Most of his career he's averaged 42-44. Good, but not great.

 

[Cevno]

Is a great for me .

Still 2 notches below Tendulkar , a notch below Dravid by the slightest of margins but could very soon catch on.

 

[silentstriker]

No. Not for me at least.

Very good though.

 

[Dissector]

Great player to watch, but he's played in the same era as everyone else this lats decade- a run scoring decade and he hasnt come close to matching other players. Sure he;s played some amazing knocks and i love watching him, but if he;s that great he should be able to score runs to match the other great batsmen of the last decade, or even his era. His average has never got to 50, now people say Jayawardene is not that good, 50 or no 50 average, too may easy runs, well Laxman has been found wanting on so many occasions in the 1st innings, a handful of winning 4th innings knocks doesnt change that. If he;s played in the easiest batting decade then why hasnt he cashed in? Most of his career he's averaged 42-44. Good, but not great.

Actually Laxman has averaged 50+ for most of his career with his average dragged down by early tests when he was often used as a makeshift opener. Here is a list of the highest averaging batsmen since 2000 excluding Zim and Ban. Laxman averages 53 over 89 tests compared with 56 for Ponting who is the highest among those who played for more than 50 tests. Hardly that big a difference. When you add in Laxman's career defining innings as well as his excellent record against Australia his performance in that period has been among the most impressive.

 

[Shri]

Laxman? Do you mean the guy who has been warming Pujara's spot in the XI for a while?

 

[weldone]

Very good - slightly better than Mark Waugh or Gower for me...in the same league with Martin Crowe or Younis Khan or Azharuddin...but nowhere near as good as Dravid or Kallis (not as good as Sehwag or Sangakkara, too)...

But when on song, he is a delight and a magician. I feel he has been born in the wrong era. He would have got much much more appreciation for his style and abilities had he played in the eras of the Ranjis and the Trumpers (not saying that would have been fairer, though).

 

[weldone]

Laxman? Do you mean the guy who has been warming Pujara's spot in the XI for a while?

No, he was not talking about Dravid

He was talking about the 3rd best Indian batsman currently, based on form...

 

[Shri]

A specialist test bat for India. Always saw him as the one player who made a difference to the ODI and test line up of India this decade.

 

[Noble One]

I'm not too worried if Laxman is considered a great, or a couple levels below the greats. His average, his ability to smash sub-standard attacks, or his failings as an opener mean little me. In years to come I won't think of Laxman for his average, I'll only remember the classical innings he has compiled across the world in testing circumstances. Plenty of good (and bad) memories.

 

[Burgey]

He is against Australia.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah his record overall paints him as being a good Test bat and he's definitely a big match player. But I think he's really only 'great' in said big matches, in other lesser series' he's a step below.

Mind you, it brings up a question we've seen time and again on CW; would you rather be remembered as a great of the game or would you rather people remember you for specific knocks in big Tests? I mean, not many people remember Kim Hughes' career but many people remember Boxing Day at the MCG in 1981 and his ton against the WI (or his press conference when he quit as captain....). People love Jaques Kallis because he has an awesome record but how many remember a truly great knock of his?

They're not mutually exclusive options and my personal preference would be to be remembered for those great knock/bowling performances but I can understand why people would value consistency over many years and a great record. Definitely think Laxman is one of those blokes who'll be judged by his memorable knocks than his record.

 

[Sanz]

I would be interested in knowing where he would rank among the Indian Batsmen of all time.

Sunny Gavaskar,
Sachin Tendulkar,
Rahul Dravid,
G Vishwanath,
Dilip Vengsarkar,
Md. Azharuddin,
Dilip Sardesai,
Vijay Merchant,
Virender Sehwag,
Polly Umrigar,
Mohinder Amarnath,
Vijay Hazare

 

[Shri]

I would be interested in knowing where he would rank among the Indian Batsmen of all time.

Sunny Gavaskar,
Sachin Tendulkar,
Rahul Dravid,
G Vishwanath,
Dilip Vengsarkar,
Md. Azharuddin,
Dilip Sardesai,
Vijay Merchant,
Virender Sehwag,
Polly Umrigar,
Mohinder Amarnath,
Vijay Hazare

5th best for me. After Sachin, Dravid, Sunny, Sehwag.