It is quite difficult to be a VVS Laxman in Indian cricket. Normally, the place of a batsman like him should not come under scrutiny unless there is extraordinary slump in form.

Laxman has been batting well, yet many seem baffled by his inclusion the team. He had a reasonable tour of South Africa, and had averaged in excess of 50 on the tour of England in July-August. But when it came to the inclusion of Yuvraj Singh in the team, the first name that cropped up in the discussion for axing was that of Laxman’s. Going by cricketing logic, it is quite hard someone batting at number six to stack up hundreds. The player in that position will either be coming in with the team already in a strong position, or forced to do the rescue work with mostly tailenders for company.

Laxman has gone through that phase on numerous occasions in the past. Even if he has been frustrated, he has hidden it well and gone about his job in a professional way. In the Kotla Test here, he came out to bat at 88 for four on Friday.

In skipper Anil Kumble’s company, Laxman ensured that India would gain an important first-innings lead. In the context of the game, his knock was priceless and Laxman too termed it as one of the best knocks of his career.
The cynics, however, were of the opinion that Laxman could have taken more strike, shielding the later order batsmen. The shielding act will work only when you have a stubborn batsman at the end, but Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan hardly fall into that cateogory.

The gritty innings also illustrated the need to promote Laxman up the order. At this stage, numbers three and four belong to Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar respectively. It will not be a bad idea to bring Laxman at number five and Sourav Ganguly at six, as that will give the former a more time at the crease.

Ganguly is a supreme improviser and can accumulate runs at a fast clip even in the company of the tail.
"I really don't think about things I cannot control. I was very happy with the way I performed in England, and I hope that the team recognises my performance," Laxman said.