Legendary Indian batsman VVS Laxman highlighted the contribution and impact the Bhagavad Gita and junior cricket coach Sandeep Patil made on his overall progress as a cricketer
VVS Laxman delivers the eighth Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture at the Cricket Club of India yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
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Legendary Indian batsman VVS Laxman highlighted the contribution and impact the Bhagavad Gita and junior cricket coach Sandeep Patil made on his overall progress as a cricketer, while delivering the eighth Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture at the Cricket Club of India yesterday.
“I understood the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita from which I derived inspiration (Chapter 12 —the Bhakti Yoga). Those teachings remained with me for the rest of my cricketing career and beyond. I learnt that I could not influence my selection one way or the other apart from scoring runs... lots of them,” Laxman explained at the CK Nayudu Hall.
'It was fun'
“There is no guarantee of scoring runs no matter how gifted or talented you might be. The only thing in my control was education, commitment, effort, hard work and labour. So I got involved fully in cricket. It was fun because that was something I wanted to do,” the 41-year-old Laxman added.
Laxman, who represented the Indian under-19 team in two Test home series against Australia and England in 1994, scored three half centuries and also remained unbeaten on 151 against an Australian attack comprising Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Andrew Symonds. “Sandeepbhai (Patil) was another hero of mine while growing, because of his swagger and style as well as his fearless approach. To have him in our dressing room, helping us with his inputs and expertise meant a lot to us,” Laxman said.
Pep talks helped
“The century in England gave me a confidence that I could perform against a good attack. Those evenings spent with Sandeepbhai remain fresh in my memory. Many of us went to Sandeepbhai’s room after each day’s play or after practice. He educated us on preparatory routines, how he and his teammates planned before and during matches. He would tell us how much the India cap meant to him. At the end of the England tour Sandeep bhai told the media that I was ready to play for India. I can’t really translate that into words what that meant to me,” said Laxman, who latter went on to play 134 Tests and scored 8781 runs for India.
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