Durban, Dec. 28: ‘V.V.S. Laxman is the danger-man,’ South Africa’s No.5 AB de Villiers had said of his Indian counterpart after the second day of the Boxing Day Test here, and that’s exactly what transpired.
Laxman’s 96 has provided India with a tangible opportunity of levelling the series.
“The first hour could dec-ide everything. If we can get Jacques Kallis early, it can put a lot of pressure on the South Africans. We saw in the first innings, the moment Hashim Amla and Kallis got out, we managed to a lot of pressure on the other batsmen. I think Kallis’ wicket will be very crucial,” Laxman said after the third day’s play.
Laxman missed out on what would have been his 17th Test hundred, but felt doing well for India was what mattered the most. “I’m a little disappointed at not being able to get a hundred because I’ve never had one in South Africa. Having said that, getting a 300-odd run lead was quite handy.
“Doing well for the team is the only motivation for me and the bowlers got us back well in the first innings. It was just a matter of one partnership and luckily me and Zak (Zaheer) had that,” he added.
“I thought Zaheer was more aggressive than me today. The tailenders take a lot of pride in their batting. They have been working a lot on it and understand the importance of contributing,” Laxman said.