VVS Laxman, the cricket maestro, blows his birthday candles on November 1. Having dominated mostly in the longest format, he went on to script several records, besides taking India to great levels in the format.
When one thinks about Laxman’s greatest innings, it is hard to go past his 281 run knock against Australia at the Eden Gardens in 2001. This innings by the batsman is still viewed as one of the greatest Test knocks.
Laxman went on to score 281 and enabled India to produce one of the greatest comeback victories. This knock by Laxman was the highest score by an Indian batsman till 2004 which was later surpassed by Virender Sehwag.
The cricketer announced retirement from international cricket in 2012. He went on to play 134 Tests, 86 ODIs for India.
On the occasion of his 46th birthday, here are some interesting facts about VVS Laxman:
- VVS Laxman was born on November 1,1974 in Hyderabad to a famous doctor’s family in Hyderabad. Both his father and mother are well-known doctors.
- In 1987, VVS surprised everyone when he scored his first ton against Andhra Pradesh scoring 153 in an Under-13 tournament in Vijayawada. This was an obvious indication of a legend in the making.
- Laxman played his maiden first-class match against Punjab while playing for Hyderabad in the quarter-final match of the 1992–93 Ranji Trophy season. Unfortunately, he could score only 0 and 17 in the match.
- The cricketer is married to G R Sailaja, a computer science post-graduate. They tied the knot on February 16, 2004, and have two children – son Sarvajit and daughter Achinta.
- VVS is the great grand nephew of former Indian president Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
- Laxman, interestingly, began and ended his 86-match ODI career with a duck. On his debut, he was dismissed on the third ball against Zimbabwe while he didn’t trouble the scorers on his final appearance too.
- An ardent devotee of Sai Baba, Laxman launched a special CD Sai produced by his maternal uncle. Sai Bodha consists of preachings, teachings and the philosophies of Sai Baba as mentioned in the Sai Satcharita.
