Back to where it all started - Laxman’s odyssey continues

At 38, after having done his best, playing some unthinkable innings, toiling under the most painful and demanding situations, playing the savior many a time, often the second fiddle, a life lived in airports, hotels and altering temperatures, one will contemplate to start either a business or something of their personal interest. But the most artistic wrists the game of cricket has ever been witnessed to – VVS Laxman – is not that kind of a man.

From creating musical ballads with the willow, often timeless edifices on the international scene, this great man had dreamt of winning a trophy every Indian cricketer waits to touch on their own. Yes, you have heard it right and I have struck the right note. Trust me, it is the historical Ranji Trophy that Laxman now waits to lift. I wonder whether there are any unseen muscle cramps, restless legs either or developing back-pain in players who fought the toughest cricket battles. Fortunately for us and thanks to his fitness, that is not the case with VVS, and will never be.

Enigmatic! What amazes me even more is his rock solid mental make-up and his positive attitude with which he leads his life, carrying the same into his game under any reality adding beauty and life to many unscripted stories. With its newly changed format involving more matches, this Ranji season is definitely challenging and a test of man and his will to strive. This time it will be even more romantic with the inclusion of old and new, as there is a competition for a place in the final eleven, more in specific to Hyderabad for we become slaves to witness the artistic works of the city’s greatest cricketing child – VVS.

I may not be a native of Hyderabad, nor was I born there, yet, I personally share one common thing with this legend, i.e. our mother tongue, Telugu. As this foremost, premier, most-treasured tournament The Ranji Trophy gives life to new season (2012-2013) I pray for the success of team Hyderabad, more in particular to the man I address “the God of the Second Innings” – our own wristy, elegant, dexterity owned, artistic VVS Laxman.