VVS Laxman has perhaps been the most unsung hero in India in an era where the starts took the team to dizzying heights.

By Rajarshi Gupta

The elegant Hyderabadi right-hander made his debut in that golden year of 1996, the very year when two young men in Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid burst into the scene in England. He joined a Holy Trinity to add fire to an arsenal that already had Sachin Tendulkar as the major strike option.

A new era had heralded. Laxman perhaps never got his due. Not until he stunned the world with 281 runs at the Eden Gardens against a rampaging Australian side to halt their winning run.

That was the second of the six tons he rattled up against the best bowling attack of his generation. He somehow never stamped an authority in the one-day side. Some said Laxman did not run fast enough, some said he was not the quickest of movers. He did silence his critics when he rattled off four three tons in the space of four ODI's Down Under in 2004.

Laxman is the only one amongst the eight players with 100 Tests or more not to have led India in a Test match. Yes, he never got his due. His innings of 64 off 141 balls is the highest innings by an Indian player, playing in his 100th Test match, eclipsing Kapil Dev's 55 against Pakistan at Karachi in 1989-90.

Yet, he never got his due. Laxman blazed 323 runs before being dismissed against India - 200 not out & 59 not out at Delhi and 64 at Nagpur. This is a new record by an Indian batsman against Australia, eclipsing Sachin's tally of 309.

Yet and yet, he never got his due. His neck has always been on the line. In fact, there were talks of dropping him from the Delhi Test to accomodate three spinners after a sensational deubut by leg spinner Amit Mishra put the selectors into a tizzy. And VVS replied the only way he has over the last 12 years: an unbeaten 200 and 59 in each innings.

It is time to savour the sheer mastery and give the artist his due.