New Delhi: "For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, he marks not that you won or lost - but how you played the game." These words, penned by the famous American sports writer Grantland Rice in 1941 come to mind as three Indian cricket legends embark on what will in all probability be their last overseas tour.
India has produced numerous batting talents, but Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman stand out. Not simply because each of them rank among the list of top ten run-scorers in Tests for India (Tendulkar and Dravid are the two most successful batsman ever, while Laxman is the fourth-highest Indian with 8,626) but because of the impact they have had. The runs these three batsmen scored and the partnerships they forged led to more Test wins than any other trio that represented India.
They have been inspirations on and off the field, an enduring and endearing example of sportsmanship. That each of the three – who along with Sourav Ganguly made up the strongest quarter Indian cricket has ever seen – was able to leave their own mark on 2011, after being written off at various stages in the past few years, is testament to their talent and mental fortitude. That each of these great men has continued to bat with thoughts of retirement not far from their minds is a tribute to their collective resilience.
Of the three, Dravid has had a stellar 2011. In fact, this year has defined his spirit. As Indian cricket fans waited with breathless expectancy for Tendulkar's unprecedented 100th international century, Dravid went about doing what he does best. In a year highlighted by propaganda and noise and controversy, he reaffirmed one’s faith in the old-fashioned values of strength and truthfulness, Dravid's best traits. He was an inspiration and the manner in which, having been recalled to India's ODI squad two years after he was last dumped from it, Dravid selflessly went about his task spoke volumes of his character. No fuss, no complaints, just straight-batted proficiency.
Going into the Boxing Day Test, he has so far amassed 1,067 runs this calendar year including five centuries. It is the third time he has scored 1,000 runs in a year, but by his own admission it has been the most satisfying because few expected him to still be going near the age of 39. These runs have been scored in trademark Dravid fashion, sedately and with great subtlety, and in conditions as different as Kingston, London, Nottingham and Kolkata. They have not always resulted in success, but their impact cannot be understated. The class has been unmistakable, the fluency staggering.
Laxman follows Dravid with 770 runs in 2011, the highlight of which were his twin scores in the eighties against West Indies at Bridgetown in June and his unbeaten 176 against the same opposition in Kolkata last month. The England series contained only a few very brief flashes of the real batsman that country has never seen, but in the four years since he last toured Australia Laxman has been a model of consistency. In the 15 series that Laxman has played over these last four years (excluding the ones in which he played only one Test), his average dipped below 35 only thrice, and below 30 only twice. On the other hand, ten times he averaged more than 45.
His back and knees are dodgy and often cause him discomfort while batting, but Laxman continues to bat as if the scoreboard is irrelevant. The reflexes aren’t as quick – this was a feature of his dismissals in England – but he still produces innings of immense determination. Laxman has been India's great saviour, producing match-winning and match-saving knocks in venues as detached as Kolkata, Colombo, Mohali, Ahmedabad, Durban and Barbados in the past two years, and India will hope he uncorks the magic in Australia, his home away from home.
And then there is Tendulkar, the man who has never been away from the headlines in 2011. That he is in his 23rd year of international cricket is staggering enough and that he continues to send the nation into a tizzy is proof that he is the biggest thing in Indian cricket. Since Tendulkar reached his 99th century against South Africa during the World Cup in March, the media has been in overdrive as to when he will get No. 100. Tendulkar has made four half-centuries since, and the closest he got to scoring a century was when he made 94 at the Wankhede Stadium against West Indies in the final Test of that series.
But should this really be the talking point? Aren't 99 centuries as special as 100? Don Bradman has 29, Sunil Gavaskar 34; Tendulkar has 99. Instead of harping in his inability to get one more century, it is more pertinent to remember his centuries in the World Cup, and the fact that Tendulkar was finally part of a World Cup-winning squad. Images of Tendulkar being lifted onto the shoulders of his team-mates and paraded around the Wankhede on the night of April 2 were the most stirring of the sporting year, and the preceding line from Virat Kohli providing the quote of the year: "Sachin Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years. It is time we carried him on our shoulders." That Tendulkar is still active is reason to celebrate, so let us not remember 2011 as the year spent in anticipation of another century.
Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman will tour Australia for one final time, hoping to achieve what no Indian team to visit those shores has achieved: a Test series victory. These three, along with Sourav Ganguly who retired in 2008, make up the strongest quarter that Indian cricket has ever seen. In Australia, Ganguly will be present in the role of commentator while his peers do battle for one last time in the middle.
This tour, the toughest for any touring team, will one final time test the familiar reservoir of experience, kinship and talent that Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman possess. When each walks out to bat at the hallowed Melbourne Cricket Ground during the Boxing Day Test, under a glaring sun and in front of thousands of spectators and against a pack of bowlers they are largely new to, they will once again seek to ignite the machination that ticks when the conditions are intimidating, the opposition mean and the pressure intense.
This time next year, it is unlikely that we will see all three legends together on a cricket field. One may last longer than the others, but Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman will know they won’t ever be among such exalted company again. At the twilight of their careers, India's most successful middle-order batsmen are in Australia perhaps knowing that this could be their last tour together.
It had seemed improbable in 2007-08, when India toured Australia last, that Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman would be back again. But they have all endured, and are together again in Australia driven not by some divine power, but by their desire and drive. As Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar have orchestrated countless perfect innings, perhaps they can now work out how to script the perfect farewell – a maiden series win in Australia. If they do, it will be a tear-inducing salute. But if they don't, it will do nothing to diminish the luminance of their glorious careers. We have truly been blessed to see them in 2011.
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