Is VVS Laxman under-rated?

Question

no one seems to talk about him like they talk about Sachin, Dravid or Ganguly. He performed quite well in the last 1 year. And yet no one mentions him.

Answer 1

very underrated

Answer 2

Laxman is very inconsistent. His best was in the 2000-01 IND v AUS series wherein Laxman played 3 matches and scored 503  runs in 6 innings in very tough situations. His worst is in 2005-06 IND v ENG single test match in which he scored a perfect 0 in one innings. His talent is somewhere in between these two extremes. His best appears to be reserved against the Aussies and the New Zealanders. He is similar to Ganguly in overall batting performance but Ganguly gets more recognition due to the showmanship. Laxman is a simple guy and when everyone in the team fails, you can expect that Laxman will not fail which we had seen repeatedly. But Laxman has to be more consistent. His potential as a test match batsman is immense and Laxman did not do full justice to this abundant potential.  

Answer 3

He is one of the brilliant cricketers India has ever produced. His first class exploits vehemently speaks of it. He was more consistent than the other legends over the years. But why is he underrated? Maybe he scored more in two digits, and rarely made it into 3 digits. Or he was forced to bat at no. 1, which he felt is not apt for him. Or he came late in the batting order. (Both because of the star-studded Indian Middle order)& He is at his best when he bats at No. 3.  But he has done well when batting at No.6.

At 1-down, his batting He averages 47.45 (1471 runs from 32 innings, 281 highest, 4 centuries, 6 half-centuries)

At No. 6, he averages 46.00 (2392 runs from 60 inns, with an highest of 154 notout, 4 centuries, 16 half centuries)

As an opener, he made only 685 runs from 25 innings at an average of 28.54, and only 1 century, the 167 he made in Sydney, Australia in 2000. The only thing India can cheer about in that tour. He scored nearly 64% of the 261 runs made in that inns, which puts him at 3rd place in the all-time list of highest percentage of runs scored by a batsman in a completed innings (Full list:- http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/rec... , and you will notice that  Sehwag's recent 201* v/s Sri Lanka is only at 11th place)

Laxman has played the rescuing act, many times in his stifled career. I say stifled, because he got less chances in the national team because of the so-called strong Indian middle order. Stifled because, he was pushed up & down the batting order so that big players of India could bat in their favourite position. Stifled because he was always under the shadows of the big Indian players. And it is not easy to come out of the shadows of the other big players (who scored big, when they scored) in the team.

Answer 4

Yes, I strongly feel that VVS Laxman is the most underrated batsman in the Indian team. Laxman is a batsman of fine class, but somehow, people just keep ignoring him. Some even consider that he isn't in the same league as Dravid or Ganguly. But this isn't the fact, because Laxman's batting has the touch of the finest batsmen of the world. He plays his shots so easily, and so spontaneously. Moreover, many a times has he brought the Indians innings back from disaster, and saved us in many critical situations.

The fact is that Indians doesn't look at performances much. Mostly, they go after those players, who are given a huge publicity by the media. Sachin and Dravid are undoubtedly great players, and has always been rated as high profile players by the Indian media. Sourav  though not a media favourite has been under the limelight for most of the time, due to one reason or the other. Ganguly has earned great respect, as well as extreme hatred from different people, but he can't be ignored. Whereas, in the case of Laxman, people don't hesitate to praise his calibre whenever the topic is raised, but for most of the time, they tend to remain oblivious of his contributions, chiefly because the media doesn't focus on him that much.

Answer 5

yea man he is a good one he knows how to Handel situations

he more like plays for the team and i like that india is going to

win the odi series now and bang india right on top again

go india and win the series and the champions trophy

and he is not under rated i mean indian news channels just

say things they never mean it lol

Answer 6

He has never been able to make a regular place in the ODI side, playing which gives you more spotlight as compared to tests. Though test indeed is the REAL test but that's also a reality that ODI games are followed more. See the example of Justin Langer, who played tests for Australia but often seems to be forgotten when one mentions about great past players.

Laxman is only of the few players to have best batting average against the Aussie attact, now this itself shows his ability.

He wasn't selected for the 2007 world cup ODI team which put his morale down & he expressed his disappinment openly. Now he's under pressure & always looked upon as a weak link to drop from the side & I would say he's one great player who didn't got the recognition he deserved or maybe which he was "capable" of.