The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Laxman ready for the challenge

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Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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Laxman ready for the challenge

V.V. Subrahmanyam

— Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

V.V.S. Laxman.

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad’s V.V.S. Laxman, tipped as a leading contender to take over as Test captain, said that he was ready for the tough job. The captain is likely to be named — for both the Pakistan series and the Australian tour — half-way through the one-day series against Pakistan at home.

“Playing for your country is itself a great privilege and to lead the national team a bigger honour. Captaincy is nothing new to me. I have led my State and South Zone besides India ‘A’ for quite some time now.

“In fact, I was the vice-captain on the last South African tour and led in a practice game on that trip. So, if given the opportunity, I am ready for the big challenge,” said Laxman talking to the The Hindu.

On his county stint, Laxman said it was competitive cricket with a huge difference. “I enjoyed every bit of it and wish I had played more of county cricket. Essentially, it helped me stay focussed on the game. The management is happy with my showing — two centuries and two fifties in the five four-day games and also an average of 80-plus in the pro-40 over games,” said Laxman.

Talking about his special showing against Australia, Laxman said, “I have always been fascinated watching them play and also about their grounds. Somehow, I get a special feeling which lifts my game when I play against them. Beating Australia in a Test series on their soil is the biggest achievement for any cricketer. And we are hoping to do that this time around since the nucleus of both the teams is more or less the same as in 2003-04.”

Laxman for now is focussed on the immediate challenge of doing well against Pakistan. “It is important to come up with big scores ahead of such an important Australian tour,” he said. “No personal targets but I hope to play match-winning knocks.” On the recent on-field aggression he said, “These Australians will come at you strongly on the field. If you don’t counter that, you are crushed. The Indians have shown a lot of this on the last tour also. The only difference now is there is more media focus this time around,” he said.

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