After scoring his second double century against Australia in third
cricket Test here, V.V.S. Laxman slammed the media for raising
questions on the seniors' place in the team.
Laxman, who scored a classy unbeaten 200 and together with Gautam
Gambhir (206) helped India to score a mammoth 613 for the loss of
seven wickets in the first innings at Feroz Shah Kotla here Thursday,
also said the Australian team paid heavily for adopting a defensive
approach in the four-match series, which India lead 1-0.
"Right from the start they were very defensive, which is quite
uncharacteristic of an Australian team. Our captain Anil Kumble,
despite being under pressure, always spoke about our team. But Ponting
chose to focus more on India. So you can see they were on the
defensive right from the start of the series," Laxman told reporters
after the end of second day's play.
The 33-year-old Hyderabadi said the negative stories on the longevity
of the senior players that came in the media in the run-up to the
Border-Gavaskar Trophy helped the team to stay positive.
"The Doubting Thomasses were in the media. There was no talk in the
team. The team management and the selectors always gave me the
confidence. Unfortunately all the stories that built up before the
series were very negative, but we took it in a positive way. Because
of all the negativity in the media we have done well in the series so
far," he said.
Laxman went on to add: "It is the media which keeps on advising the
senior players to retire. The players are well aware of their
responsibilities. They know when to take the decision and they are
mature enough to do it."
Laxman said the double century was satisfying.
"After a long time I got a score more than 150. I was scoring 100s,
but not getting big centuries. It is a good sign for me," he said.
The wristy batsman said after failing to score in the first two Test
matches he was very eager to score a big one at the Kotla.
"It was unfortunate that I was not able to contribute in the first two
Tests. I was keen to contribute here. It was very important for us to
get a big first-innings score here so that we could put the pressure
on the Australians, " he said.
Laxman also said his knock was very important from personal point
because he didn't throw his wicket away after getting the hundred.
"It was very important for me to carry on and get a big score and not
throw it away after scoring a 100," he said.
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