Dravid and Lakshman against Australia

It was a March 14. School was closed for some reason. In Pattambi, a sweet small village of Kerala, summer was reigning supreme. All I remember about the time was the utter hopelessness of it. Sachin’s captaincy had come to a sad closure the year before. Tandem series losses. On the days leading upto the the second test of India-Aus series underway, newspapers were choke full of articles about the unstoppable winning streak of Australia - 16 straight victories and counting. It was Steve Waugh’s Australia after all. Glenn McGrath alone could demolish a side. What Mathew “the Mountain” Hayden could do to Indian bowling was downright depressing to watch. Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Mark Waugh, Rickie Ponting and Adam Gilchrist - it was as if water in Australia is mutating people into generational talents.

First innings could be summarised as “massacre”. Against a 400+ score by Aussies, India folded under 200. Commentary box was choke full of experts who were convinced that “Sweet 17” was just around corner for Australia. Follow-on was enforced. Nothing much was expected out of SS Das and Sadagopan Ramesh, and they still disappointed. Then this unassuming gentleman named VVS Lakshman walked into crease. He was soon joined by a certain Rahul Dravid. No one remembers 2 days of a test match shot for shot. However I am sure everyone who watched those 2 days could would remember how they felt. It wasn’t the quick adrenaline rush of hero punching the villain. It was joy - the kind you get when you read a hearty poem or watch a flower bloom or feel a gentle breeze. It was as if they were not batting, but gently guiding the ball to its right place. Brick by brick, run by run, ball by ball, they poured life back into the dying embers of a match.

In the movie, ‘The Last Samurai’, a character said, “The perfect blossom is a rare thing. You could spend your life looking for one, and it would not be a wasted life.” To a cricket fan, that second innings at Eden gardens was exactly that - the perfect blossom that comes along once in a lifetime.