August 18, 2012
Bangalore: India Test batsman VVS Laxman is likely to announce his retirement from international cricket, according to media reports emerging from Hyderabad on Friday.
It is understood that VVS Laxman was pondering which moment in the New Zealand series would be right for his exit
August 18, 2012
Bangalore: India Test batsman VVS Laxman is likely to announce his retirement from international cricket, according to media reports emerging from Hyderabad on Friday.
It is understood that VVS Laxman was pondering which moment in the New Zealand series would be right for his exit
VVS Laxman, one of the go-to men of Indian cricket in the last decade and among the most stylish batsmen in recent memory, is likely to bring the curtain down on his international career. He expected to make an announcement in the next 24 hours.
Laxman has told his family and close circle of friends, including his long-time coach, that he was "contemplating" retirement after the two-Test series against New Zealand, which starts in his hometown Hyderabad on August 23.
Laxman's career in numbers
Laxman, who will be playing the two-match Test series against New Zealand, could be his last. He is likely to make a formal announcement on Saturday or Sunday, a report said.
The batsman was quoted as saying by "The Hindu" newspaper on Friday that he was contemplating retirement.
"A final decision will be taken about the exact details of my plans by Friday evening," Laxman told "The Hindu".
The right-hander from Hyderabad had not been in the best of form during the last Test series in Australia. He has not played international cricket since the tour of Australia earlier this year. In eight innings on that tour of Australia, Laxman managed just one half century. India lost the four-Test series 0-4.
On that tour of Australia, Laxman could manage just 155 runs in eight innings.
The 37-year-old will be playing at his home ground, Hyderabad, only for the second time in his magnificent journey of 134 Tests for the country.
The first India-New Zealand Test will commence at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on August 23. The second Test is in Bangalore from August 31.
Laxman has so far scored 8,781 runs in 134 Tests with 17 hundreds and 56 half centuries. In his 86-match One Day International career, he tallied 2,338 runs with six centuries and 10 fifties.
The affable Hyderabadi's most memorable Test innings was 281 against Australia at Kolkata's Eden Gardens in 2001. He made his Test debut against South Africa in 1996 in Ahmedabad.
Courtesy: cricinfo
