Follow UsVVS Laxman is one of India’s best Test batters, but the stylish right-hander from Hyderabad also had a decent ODI career. Laxman featured in 86 ODIs, scoring 2,338 runs at an average of 30.76, hitting six centuries and 10 fifties. However, Laxman didn’t play a single World Cup game for India.
When there was an opportunity in the format, he was dropped from the 2003 ODI World Cup squad, with captain Sourav Ganguly and head coach John Wright preferring spin-bowling all-rounder Dinesh Mongia over Laxman. As a result, Laxman didn’t speak to Ganguly for three months.
“It has happened many times when we rested players. They were unhappy. Laxman being left out of the World Cup...he never spoke to me for three months,” Ganguly told PTI, reported the Hindustan Times.
“Then I made up with him. Anybody would get upset...for a World Cup. Especially a player of Laxman’s calibre. Quite natural that he would get upset. After we finished the World Cup, he was happy that we did well.
“When we came back, he returned to the ODI system. He played an outstanding series in Pakistan and Australia. We won in Pakistan for the first time ever, and VVS was very instrumental. They knew at the back of their mind that it was never personal.”
Speaking on the Caught Behind YouTube channel last year, former India chief selector Kiran More said: "Before the 2003 ODI World Cup selection meeting, we had a huge argument when the Indian team was playing in New Zealand. As per the inputs received from the captain and the coach, we selected a 14-member squad and asked them what they thought of it.
"Over the conference call, Ganguly had a different opinion. We had selected VVS Laxman as our middle-order batter. Ganguly was very smart. He was a brilliant captain, a person with a great cricketing brain. He said 'we need an all-rounder.'
"All five selectors were on the same page. We thought, 'how could we drop someone like Laxman?' But when we eventually had an elaborate discussion with all the stakeholders, including the captain, coach, and vice-captain Rahul Dravid, we eventually took a big call that we have to give them what they want."