VVS Laxman fell short of his century by four runs, but his 96 that set up India's 87-run victory over South Africa in Durban was easily one of the best innings of his career.
The stylish Hyderabadi seems to have made it a habit of delivering when the chips are down, especially in the second innings. His magical innings of 281 against Australia in Kolkata was one of the best knocks ever seen in the history of the game and since then Laxman has proved to be India's rescuer quite a number of times.
It is not surprising that he is a major contributor in the second innings in India's victories, way ahead of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.
A look at India's most successful batsmen in the second innings in wins since the Kolkata Test vs Australia in 2001:
|
Mts |
Runs |
HS |
Avg |
100 |
50 | |
|
VVS Laxman |
28 |
1158 |
281 |
72.37 |
2 |
8 |
|
Rahul Dravid |
32 |
944 |
180 |
49.68 |
2 |
4 |
|
Sachin Tendulkar |
29 |
739 |
103* |
41.05 |
1 |
5 |
|
Virender Sehwag |
24 |
718 |
92 |
37.78 |
0 |
5 |
|
Gautam Gambhir |
13 |
452 |
116 |
45.20 |
2 |
2 |
|
Sourav Ganguly |
21 |
439 |
98* |
36.58 |
0 |
2 |