Mumbai: Batting great VVS Laxman was disappointed at the way India were carved open by Australia in the first Test in Pune but has backed the team to bounce back strongly.
“I must profess to disappointment at some of the reactions to India’s 333-run defeat but I think it is essential not to lose sight of the larger picture,” Laxman wrote for Cricket Country. “India came into this Test sitting on a 19-match unbeaten streak defeating New Zealand, England and Bangladesh at home and they have not reached the pinnacle by accident.”
Laxman believes that everything that could go wrong went wrong for India but one defeat does not change anything.
“All good things invariably must come to an end (albeit temporarily), and so they did in Pune. Agreed, the swiftness of the debacle was astonishing, but it is worth remembering that India had one bad game, they have not and cannot become a poor Test team overnight,” he wrote.
The man from Hyderabad praised the Aussies for their positive approach and game plan against India’s spinners.
“Australia showed tremendous adaptability. While they knew that they had to bide their time, they did not go into their shells. They were always positive, even in defence, but at the first hint of shortness in length, they went deep into the crease to cut or pull,” wrote Laxman. “Whenever the ball was given a little more air, they used their feet, took calculated risks and hit the ball down the ground in the air or along the carpet, throwing India’s spinners off their game.”
Laxman is of the opinion that the defeat hurts more because of the kind of performances India have given recently but also stressed that this will make them learn from their mistakes quicker.
“Knowing how much pride there is in that dressing-room, I can state with certainty that lessons will be learnt not just thoroughly, but also quickly,” he wrote. “I can almost feel the pain of Virat and Anil and the rest of the team. This is not a time for recrimination or finger-pointing. Instead, it is time for introspection, time to figure out what could have been done better and what could have been avoided, and what needs to be done now to turn things around.”
Laxman, who played 134 Tests with an average of above 45, says there is plenty of time to turn things around and anything is still possible in the rest of the series.
“That this is a four-Test series is to India’s advantage. There is plenty of time to bounce back from the Pune defeat, and especially given the quality that is at Virat’s disposal,” wrote Laxman. “While Pune cannot be wished away as a bad dream, India can use it as a template of what not to do and emerge stronger by imbibing the lessons. Not for a moment do I have any doubt about my Indian team’s capability to win this series even from this position.”
