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Cricket Players'I was well and truly sick of bowling to him by the end of my career': Gillespie recalls Laxman's Kolkata epic
20 years since VVS Laxman played the innings his life, Jason Gillespie looked back at the match and recalled how absolutely nothing worked for the Aussies that day.
Jason Gillespie, one of the nine bowlers used by Steve Waugh during the historic Test between India and Australia in 2001, recalled the marathon innings played by VVS Laxman, calling the former India batsman's knock of 281 one of the best Test innings of all time. March 14, 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of probably India's most famous Test match, where led by Sourav Ganguly, India, following-on, registered a stunning 171-run win against Australia at the Eden Gardens, breaking their 16-match winning streak.
After Harbhajan Singh became the first Indian bowler to take a Test hat-trick, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman forged a 376-run partnership, during which they batted an entire day without losing a wicket. Laxman and Dravid (180) helped change Indian cricket forever with their epic knocks. 20 years on, Gillespie, looks back at Laxman's Test epic, reminiscing how absolutely nothing worked for the Aussies that day.
"The talk was basically that they were playing well, however, it only takes one ball or one poor shot and we can get a wicket. Unfortunately, the poor shot didn’t eventuate! I did try to distract VVS by flapping my arms like a bird as I was running in to bowl to put him off! It was one of the best innings in Test history. A superb knock," Gillespie told Sportstar.
Gillespie said in jest that by the end, he had had enough bowling to Laxman, for obvious reasons. Laxman had a terrific record against Australia, scoring 2434 runs against them from 29 Tests at an average of 49.67, including six centuries. In fact, Laxman had been torturing Gillespie ever since his Under-19 days.
"The talk was basically that they were playing well, however, it only takes one ball or one poor shot and we can get a wicket. Unfortunately, the poor shot didn’t eventuate! I did try to distract VVS by flapping my arms like a bird as I was running in to bowl to put him off! It was one of the best innings in Test history. A superb knock."
