V.V.S. Laxman's bond with the Eden Gardens is set in stone. The man, who paints luminously on the cricketing canvas, is the leading run-scorer (1,217) at Kolkata, and, on Tuesday, he equalled Mohammad Azharuddin's record of five centuries at the venue.
“I have enjoyed batting at the Eden Gardens. It's a great ground with a lot of history. Probably the spectators, even though they were not many for this match, make it special,” Laxman said.
Laxman wished that his hundred would help India win the second Test.
“I rate any knock which helps the team win more valuable than making runs in a losing cause.
“The wicket is turning and hopefully our bowlers can bowl in the right areas and we can win the game,” he said.
Sense of relief
In the months ahead of his latest century, Laxman was the scorer of match-winning fifties while the three-figure mark proved elusive. He admitted to a sense of relief on reaching his ton.
“The last hundred was against Sri Lanka at Colombo's P. Sara Stadium. In this Test, when I went in, the position wasn't very challenging, but it was important to build a partnership and that's what Rahul Dravid and I did.
“It was important to get a big first innings score, especially as the wicket will deteriorate. It was satisfying to get a hundred after a gap, though I had some valuable fifties.
“Earlier with Paddy Upton (former mental conditioning coach), we tried various strategies about how to get the best out of me especially in a situation where the team is not under pressure,” he said.
Laxman also expressed awe over the manner in which M.S. Dhoni batted. “Whenever he hits a six, he says he didn't connect the ball and I just start laughing because Dhoni easily clears the boundary.
“With Dhoni at the other end, common sense says ‘take a single and give him the strike',” Laxman said.
Meanwhile, Richie Richardson said the Caribbean batsmen needed to bat for two days to save the Test. “We got to bat the way India batted. It's not going to be easy against the Indian bowlers, but I believe we have the ammunition to bat for the next two days,” the former West Indies captain said.
Now busy as the visiting team's manager, Richardson said his batsmen could draw inspiration from the ‘solid' Dravid and the ‘wristy' Laxman.
