India without the Wall and VVS

Having grown up in the era,where I have been used to see Dravid and Laxman bat whenever India played a test. It would be quite unusual to see an Indian test team without these stalwarts. They were just not important for the indian middle order  but were a key component of the slip cordon. If its a test match, slip cordon is definately the lifeline for the pace bowlers. So, its impeartive that you have your specialist fielders in there, VVS and Dravid were those fielders for India. If Dravid was "the Wall" ,then Laxman was always Very Very Special. Though both of them had won numerous test matches for India, there match wining partnership in Eden Test against Australia in 2001 was by far the best. India were made to follow on and might have faced an innings defeat . Sadly, for the Aussies these gentlemen had other plans. They forged a partnership of well over 300 odd runs which just not saved India blushes of an innings defeat before a capacity crowd, infact it gave india a substantial lead which in the end proved too much for the Aussies.

They had their own style of playing but they had a thing in common, both always remained calm under pressure. If Dravid was a more compact player and had a solid defense, Laxman was more flashy one with minimum feet movement. His class cover drives were a treat to watch. He had an amazing ability of flicking balls pitched way outside off stump towards legside. Both occupied, key positions in the batting line up. Dravid,came in at the crucial position of number 3 so he had the job of building the innings. Laxman came in at 6, and his role was more of an accumulator. He played his part really well especially with the tailenders around. Though VVS scored much less runs compared to Dravid that was mainly because he mostly got to bat with the tailenders. Still, he managed to score huge amount of runs that speaks about his class. Owing to this quality he was always considered special and india's go to man  in crisis. Dravid scored tons of runs against every opposition and on tracks all round the world. Laxman, on the other hand had a special liking for the Aussies. Aussies feared him more than the great Sachin.

Loss of Dravid and Laxman has definately left a void in india's once reputed middle order. Suddenly, it looks brittle for it does not have the solidarity of Dravid and calmness and composure of Laxman. We have got new talents in their place but they are also aware that they have really big shoes to fill. I fear that the younger lot is from the T20 era who does not have patience. One of the most important key to the success of these batting legends was their patience, which the younger lot doesn't have. If one has to score heavy in test cricket, one has to play patiently, respecting the good balls and punishing the loose ones. After all Test Cricket is the REAL CRICKET.