NEW DELHI: Former India captain Rahul Dravid recently shared his memories of a remarkable partnership with VVS Laxman during the Adelaide Test against Australia in 2003.
Speaking to Star Sports, Dravid discussed how their 303-run partnership for the fifth wicket shifted the game in India’s favour. India had a difficult start, but the partnership helped them secure a historic four-wicket victory.
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Dravid admitted that his determination during the innings stemmed from a feeling of guilt. He had run out captain Sourav Ganguly, leaving India struggling at 85/4. This was in response to Australia’s big first-innings total of 556.
“I was thinking, ‘I’ve got the captain run-out. I better do something meaningful.’ It was totally my mistake getting Sourav run-out. I will own up to that one – it was my mistake,” Dravid said.
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Dravid recounted that their focus during the partnership with Laxman was solely on rebuilding the innings.
“You’re just trying to bat, you’re just trying to build a partnership, you’re just trying to get to the target. 556 is a huge score. You’re just trying to stitch together a partnership; we’ve lost four wickets, and you’re just trying to think about getting close and batting together,” Dravid explained.
Dravid and Laxman had a history of successful partnerships. The most famous one was their 376-run stand against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001. They also shared a substantial partnership during a domestic game between South Zone and West Zone. Dravid emphasized how their different batting styles complemented each other.
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“The thing with Laxman and me is that we had batted together in a couple of really big partnerships before that. We did it once in Kolkata in 2001 and even in a domestic game when we first played South Zone against West Zone – we had a really big partnership. So we had kind of batted a lot together and built this partnership,” Dravid said.
Dravid acknowledged the pleasure of batting with Laxman. He admired Laxman’s elegant batting style and how it contrasted with his own approach.
“It’s always nice batting with Laxman as well, right? Because he’s just a beautiful player to watch and such a lovely player. He really attacked back, which, in some ways, complemented me quite well in how we went about our innings,” he added.
Dravid’s score of 233 and Laxman’s 148 propelled India to a first-innings total of 523. This laid the groundwork for their eventual victory. In the second innings, Dravid remained unbeaten on 72 as India chased down the target of 230 with four wickets remaining. Laxman also contributed a quick 32 runs from 34 balls in the second innings.