Legendary Indian batsman VVS Laxman has recently recalled India’s memorable Eden Gardens Test victory against Australia that helped them to clinch historic Test series 2-1 back in 2001.
India made a brilliant comeback in Kolkata Tests after suffering a defeat in the series-opening Test at the hands of Australia in Mumbai and went on to win the second Test by 171 runs mainly on the back of incredible performances of Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh to level the Test series.
In that historic match, Laxman scored a record 281 as well as stitched a 331-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Rahul Dravid (180) to bring a win from the brink of a defeat for India against Australia.
Following the Kolkata Test win in front of the overwhelming participation of the crowd at the iconic Eden Gardens, India gained the momentum and managed to beat Australia in the third and final Test in Chennai as well to claim the Test series 2-1 at home.
Laxman told the Times of India: “We immediately had to go to Chennai. There was very little time to celebrate, but it felt like the whole country was celebrating along with us after that victory.”
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The former batsman also heaped praise on then captain Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh for their role in Test series win. The off-spinner had finished the historic Test series with 32 wickets and even took India's first Test hat-trick in Kolkata match.
Laxman signed off by saying, “For a youngster making a comeback into the team, it was brilliant. Of course, he got a lot of confidence from Sourav, who backed him to the hilt because there was no Anil Kumble or Javagal Srinath. It was very tough to hit Bhajji the way he was bowling. The best part was Bhajji taking a hat-trick. The confidence levels suddenly changed after the hat-trick. Some brilliant catches as well.”
(With Times of India Inputs)
