Exactly how good was VVS Laxman?

[GuyFromLancs]

On his day, pretty much peerless. My favourite trait of his was how he'd wristly flick away quick bowlers like they were spinners - then murder actual spinners.

But there is an element of enigma. For much of his career he averaged about 40, whilst his comrades in the India order for much of the time were Sehwag (50), Dravid (55), SRT (55), Ganguly (43)* meaning Laxman was regarded, and was picked as a number 6.

In what tier do you rank Laxman?



* I know some of these averages then reclined slightly

 

[cricmahanty]

Very good imo.

Anyone who plays a knock as good as that 281* must be more than just good, anyway. Bottomline, he could win you test matches from the most outrageously bad situations, and to have done that as a lower middle-order batsman takes a lot of doing.

Apart from it, pretty much everyone agrees on how he made batting look so easy and charming to the eyes.

 

[OverratedSanity]

One of my absolute favourite players ever. Rate him extremely highly. Apart from SRT, Dravid and Gavaskar, I would struggle to place any Indian batsman ahead of him. He had a touch of genius and an ability to come to our rescue when things looked dire. Yeah his average isn't great, yeah his century count is poor, his conversion rate pathetic because he scored o many pretty 60s-70s and threw his wicket away cheaply too often. But he played the role of "pull a rabbit out of the hat and dig the team out of an unimaginably deep hole" better than anyone I've seen. I mean, just in 2010 alone he played 3-4 innings of that sort within a matter if months, without which we probably wouldn't have got to number 1.

I'm not too much of a stats man, but that average of 46 doesn't do him justice imo. It's primarily so low because of his terrible start to his career when he was forced to open while he was clearly a middle order batsman.
In the period from 2000 till the end of his career in 2012, over 109 tests, he averaged over 50 against the top sides (excluding BZ/Zim). Not too shabby for someone considered inconsistent.

Among Indians, he's fourth all time imo behind Tendulkar, Dravid and Gavaskar

 

[Howe_zat]

Exactly?

I reckon 653 kilobats

 

[fredfertang]

One of the few who nobody seems to have a bad word for - must be a decent bloke as well

 

[sledger]

It'd be difficult not to look like a good bloke when you consider some of the people he lined up alongside.

 

[fredfertang]

It'd be difficult not to look like a good bloke when you consider some of the people he lined up alongside.

May not be the best direction in which to take the thread

 

[Flem274*]

cbf checking the stats but his low average might be due to him not cashing in when the going was easy and India were 900/4.

 

[nightprowler10]

Exactly?

I reckon 653 kilobats

I believe one can calibrate a kilobat by bowling to Faisal Iqbal.

 

[Furball]

On his day, pretty much peerless. My favourite trait of his was how he'd wristly flick away quick bowlers like they were spinners - then murder actual spinners.

But there is an element of enigma. For much of his career he averaged about 40, whilst his comrades in the India order for much of the time were Sehwag (50), Dravid (55), SRT (55), Ganguly (43)* meaning Laxman was regarded, and was picked as a number 6.

In what tier do you rank Laxman?



* I know some of these averages then reclined slightly

For most of Laxman's career he averaged 50.

See my Greatest XI thread for why he was special.

 

[OverratedSanity]

cbf checking the stats but his low average might be due to him not cashing in when the going was easy and India were 900/4.

Did ****all against minnows like Bangladesh, NZ, and England too

 

[Maximas]

Saved his best for Australia, which suited me, always loved watching him play but his record in England and SA leaves some to be desired, I think he will rightly be remembered for being a very aesthetically pleasing batsman capable of playing great innings', rather than a truly great batsman IMO

 

[SteveNZ]

Did ****all against minnows like Bangladesh, NZ, and England too

Go on Flem, tell him about how VVS averaged 58 (otherwise known as **** all) against us with 2 centuries and 6 50s, and had a two win, two loss record against said 'minnow'.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Meant Zimbos my apologies

 

[Red]

He was a joy to watch. Matched my fave (M.Waugh) for elegance.

To watch VVS and M.Waugh put on a 200 run p/ship would be my idea of cricket heaven.

 

[andyc]

Commenting as an Australian, he was too ****ing good.

 

[cricmahanty]

To watch VVS and M.Waugh put on a 200 run p/ship would be my idea of cricket heaven.

That would be pure bliss indeed.

 

[GuyFromLancs]

For most of Laxman's career he averaged 50.

See my Greatest XI thread for why he was special.

Really, I recall it being around 41, and then climbing up to 45-56 at the back end.

 

[GuyFromLancs]

45/46 I mean

 

[sledger]

May not be the best direction in which to take the thread

I disagree. My point was entirely valid.

Besides, in response to questions re: his actual ability, he was always rubbish against England.