Very Very Special Laxman

India 405 (Tendulkar 98, Raina 86, Johnson 5-64) and 216 for 9 (Laxman 73*, Hilfenhaus 4-57, Bollinger 3-32) beat Australia 428 (Watson 126, Paine 92, Zaheer 5-94) and 192 (Watson 56, Ishant 3-34, Zaheer 3-43) by 1 wicket

On a day where VVS Laxman struggled to bend his back too much, constantly flexing it throughout his stay in the middle, Team India took a glorious bow.

His extremely supple wrists and ability to notch up magnum knocks may be the most talked-about facets about the elegant Hyderabadi batsman. But Laxman's quality of batting with the tail and bringing the best out of them rarely gets the mileage it deserves. That will certainly change after Tuesday.As the Australians watched on in utter disbelief and bewilderment it was their near-eternal tormentor who returned to haunt them at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. And in the company of the resilient Ishant Sharma, whose batting continues to blossom by the day, Laxman literally snatched a historic victory right out of the Australians' hands, and won India the first Test, by the narrowest of margins in their history, one-wicket, as close to a billion hearts heaved a collective sigh of relief.It was Laxman and Ishant who set up the win, which seemed highly improbably after India had slumped to 124 for eight, with a 81-run stand during which the Australians lost the plot and saw the initiative slip out of their hands from right under their noses. Though Ishant, who will miss the next Test, dragged himself off the field after being given LBW with India still 11 runs short, last-man Pragyan Ojha overcame a number of jitters and an admonishment from his senior partner to see India home with two leg-byes down to fine-leg.

If as history has it the fearsome former West Indian opener Gordon Greenidge used to be feared that much more, when he walked out to the centre with a limp; Laxman batting with a runner has proved to be an equally formidable proposition for oppositions in the recent past.

And after having taken India home against the Sri Lankans at Colombo just a couple of months back, where he had a runner for the latter half of his century knock, the 35-year-old right-hander repeated his heroics with ample assistance from Suresh Raina, who despite the mix-up with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, did his job to perfection.Though Laxman and Ishant looked hardly in any discomfort during their stint in the middle, things had started off on a horrible note for the home team on the fifth morning. After night-watchman Zaheer Khan edged Nathan Hauritz to slip, Sachin Tendulkar cut a Doug Bollinger delivery straight to Michael Hussey at gully. Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh also followed suit in quick succession leaving Laxman waging a lone and painful battle.Having vehemently turned down the opener's slot, which he occupied for quite a while in the late nineties, repeatedly earlier in his career, Laxman has languished at No. 6 for most parts of his 14-year-long Test career.While he has mastered his skill at batting with the tail from that position, the veteran has also rarely been bogged down regardless of the situation he is batting in and has forever managed to be a survivor.And despite the wickets falling around him, and India's hopes diminishing rather rapidly, Laxman never lifted his foot off the pedal and kept the pressure on the Australian bowling-attack, which was unfortunately depleted after Bollinger walked off the field with an abdominal strain.Laxman made the most of it, while constantly scoring at close to a run-a-ball, finishing up with 73 off 79 balls, including eight hits to the fence.

And as the stylish Laxman stood with his arms held high in the air, displaying uncharacteristic signs of unconditional exhilaration, he had once again proved his worth in his typically unhurried fashion.

@Cricket Buzz