Uncovering Sydney's Hidden Gem: The Match that Put VVS Laxman on the Map

The beginning of the 21st century brought a series of disappointing defeats for India. After losing by 285 runs in Adelaide and 180 runs in Melbourne, India suffered a crushing innings and 141-run loss in the New Year’s Test in Sydney, resulting in a humiliating whitewash by Steve Waugh’s dominant Australian team.

There wasn’t much to be happy about following the tour — Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy stint came to an end after this hammering, with India left with some soul-searching to do with the match-fixing scandal also around the corner — but Sydney nonetheless proved to be the battleground where one of India’s future heroes first found his feet.

India were bowled out meekly for 150 in the first innings, a Glenn McGrath five-fer doing the damage, before Australia set a 402-run lead thanks to a Justin Langer double-century and Ricky Ponting century.

India looked consigned to another heavy loss, but VVS Laxman wasn’t going to go down fighting. Over the course of his career, Australia would become his favourite opponents, with some memorable innings and tours where he scored boatloads of runs. This hadn’t been the best series for Laxman, who was being tried out as an opener, but he played an innings of such a sublime combination of grace and aggression that turned his career around.

In an innings that consisted of 27 boundaries, a century within itself, Laxman drove and flicked all around the ground to scored a 198-ball 167, his first century in Test cricket. It encapsulated what would make Laxman such a mainstay of India’s middle order in years to come, as he was ready to take the attack to Australia’s incredible bowling attack.

Laxman scored 167 of India’s 261 runs in that innings, a stunning solo show where he looked to be a cut above even his most established teammates such as Rahul Dravid, dismissed for a duck, or Sachin Tendulkar, out on 4.

This was the first of Laxman’s 17 Test centuries, and the first of six against Australia. His next would be the famous and historic 281 at the Eden Gardens in 2001, but it is a question worth asking: would that Very Very Special moment in India’s cricket history ever come around if Laxman didn’t find his feet with this show of elegance and excellence at the SCG a few months prior?