The Hindu : Sport : ‘I enjoy playing under pressure’

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Saturday, Jan 19, 2008
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‘I enjoy playing under pressure’

Special Correspondent

Perth: V.V.S. Laxman rarely gets the recognition he deserves. For some reason, his performances slip conveniently from memory every time a batsman needs to be sacrificed. But, both the Indian and the Australian teams acknowledge there are few better under pressure.

Having directed the gathering of 169 runs for India’s final five wickets on the third day of the third Test, Laxman said almost self-consciously that he enjoyed playing during tense times.

“Such situations get the best out of me,” said the 33-year-old. “Not just for India but also for Hyderabad and South Zone, I have enjoyed playing under pressure. For me, getting my team out of such situations gives more pleasure than a hundred.”

Commendable show

Laxman credited Irfan Pathan, M.S. Dhoni and R.P. Singh — his allies in setting Australia a target of 413 — saying their performances were “commendable.”

“Irfan has been having a great Test match both with ball and bat. It was important that I had that partnership with him. That helped us get the momentum back after Australia had taken it.

“Dhoni played a very mature innings, not his usual freewheeling style. (For) R.P. to play against Australian bowlers on the Perth wicket is commendable.”

Laxman said Australia would face a “psychological challenge” in chasing over 400 runs. “They’re under a lot of pressure tomorrow getting 350 runs in the fourth innings,” he said.

“The way our bowlers bowled in the last hour was very encouraging. They are maturing as the tour progresses and I’m sure they will handle the pressure very well.

“If we can win it will be a great moment for all of us, so we’re looking forward to doing that, but we are thinking about the process and not the result.”

Realistic chance

Tim Nielsen, the Australian coach, said his side was paying the price for an under-done first innings. But, he said the chase was realistic, adding that a draw was out of the equation.

“The good thing is the wicket’s still in pretty good shape, the outfield’s fast and we’ve seen that if batsmen get in they find it easier to score,” he said.

“We’re a long way behind so it’s going to be a big effort (on Saturday) morning to set up a platform. Ricky (Ponting) and Michael (Hussey) need to set it up for us.”

Asked about Ponting’s decision to bowl Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke after lunch, Nielsen said, “We only bowled 11 overs in the second hour of the first session which really did put us under some pressure. We would have liked to have bowled the fast bowlers at periods but unless you’re keeping up with the rate of play you need to do some things to fix it up.”

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