Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman
Former India international VVS Laxman has reflected on his 303-run partnership with Rahul Dravid in the 2003 Adelaide Test, saying that the latter was in a daze after being responsible for Sourav Ganguly's run out. Rahul and Laxman, the heroes of India's iconic win at Eden Gardens in 2001, stitched another triple century partnership to put India in a commanding position.
While Dravid scored a double century, Laxman gathered 148 as India went on to clinch the Test by 4 wickets. Reliving India's memorable victory against the hosts, Laxman said that he had to tell Dravid to forget about Ganguly's run-out.
"When I joined Rahul when Sourav, unfortunately, got run out, the reaction of Rahul was he was still amazed, he was dazed when I walked in because of the fashion in which Sourav got run out," said Laxman on Star Sports' show Cricket Connected.
"All I had to tell to Rahul was forget about what has happened and let us think about what we are going to do. Because he was really upset the way Sourav got run out," he added.
Laxman also recalled that the Australians were in wary of witnessing another Eden Gardens show when the pair got stuck in the middle. After electing to bat first, Australia managed to post a colossal total of 556 on the board. In response, India were in a tricky situation after Ganguly was dismissed after a mix-up with Dravid, with the scoreboard reading 85/4.
However, Laxman and Dravid stitched a brilliant 303-run stand as India amassed 523 in the first innings. Ajit Agarkar, in the second innings, left Australians gasping for breath with his 6/41 and India were left with a target of 230 runs. Dravid dazzled with the bat again and scored 72* as the visitors scripted a four-wicket win at Adelaide.
"We had a good partnership by the end of the day and we tried to play our natural game. The best part about that partnership was even though there was scoreboard pressure, even though we were under a lot of stress and pressure but not once did we go into a shell," said the veteran.
"And when I spoke to some of them after the Test match, when we had a partnership of 100 or 150, slowly they were also thinking if it will be a repeat of Eden. We had a 300-run partnership and Rahul batted beautifully to get to his double-hundred," concluded Laxman.
