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A few months after Rahul Dravid’s retirement, VVS Laxman also decided to hang up his boots not because he was a 37-year-old, but because of reports which said that he was blocking the way for youngsters.
Laxman, who made his Test debut in 1996 against South Africa, brought down the curtains on a glorious career spanning 16 years. The talismanic right-hander played several match-winning knocks for India and his 281 against the Aussies at the Eden Gardens would go down as one of the finest innings played by an Indian cricketer under pressure.
Laxman played 134 Tests, amassing 8,781 runs at an average of 45.97. He scored 17 hundreds and 56 half-centuries in the longer format of the game.
Laxman could be one of those players who was born in a wrong era. In a team which had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, it was extremely difficult to make an impact. But Laxman lived through challenges all throughout his career. Apart from his ability to deliver under pressure, Laxman would be remembered as one of the most stylish batsmen to have graced the game.
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