VVS Laxman announces retirement from international cricket

Hyderabad|India|August'2012: India's star batsman V V S Laxman announces retirement from international cricket.Earlier, it was speculated that Laxman would announce his retirement at the end of the first Test against New Zealand at his hometown Hyderabad. But the Hyderabadi batsman, who was reportedly miffed at comments in the media that his presence was blocking chances for the youngsters, did not want to wait for the New Zealand series to finish.

The 37-year-old batsman, who formed the core of India's famed middle-order that had Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, ruled world cricket for more than a decade with his wristy stroke-making.

It was the contribution of this famed quartet that helped India to gradually make progress in Test matches and get to the No 1 in the ICC Test rankings.

He scored 8781 runs with 17 Test centuries with highlight being the epic knock of 281 against Australia where India won the Test match after being made to follow on. He has a Test average of 45.97.

The tall batsman - known for his gift of timing the ball - made his Test debut in November 1996 and has played 134 Tests, in which he scored 17 hundreds and 56 half-centuries at an average of 45.97. V V S Laxman was not a regular in India's ODI team and played 83 matches for 2338 runs with six centuries.

There has been intense speculation regarding the future of the Hyderabadi stylist after he managed a meagre 154 runs in eight innings during India's disastrous tour of Australia.

With the departure of Dravid and Laxman in quick succession, Indian cricket will perhaps miss both these classical players who were class apart in their batting department.

We will miss the flowing off-drives that left the field still or the sublime wristy flicks that showcased to the world the power of Hyderabad cricket.