Hyderabad, Aug 18: Indian batting legend Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman on Saturday announced his retirement from international cricket.
"It's been 16 years since I have made my international debut for India and I think it is the right time to move on," Laxman said.
"As a youngster it was dream to represent India and I took lot of pride to wear the India cap, he added.
"I would like to give youngsters an opportunity to prove themselves," said Laxman. "I am grateful to almighty for blessing me to live my dream of playing cricket."
"I communicated my decision to BCCI earlier in the day that I am not going to continue playing cricket and would hang my boots with immediate effect," he said while interacting with media persons.
The 37-year-old batsman, who formed the famous ‘Fabulous Four’ of India's famed middle-order that had Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, ruled world cricket for more than a decade with his wristy stroke-making.
It was the contribution of this famed quartet that helped India to gradually make progress in Test matches and get to the No 1 in the ICC Test rankings.
Laxman scored 8781 runs with 17 Test centuries, highlight being the epic knock of 281 against Australia where India won the Test match after being made to follow on. He has a Test average of 45.97.
Laxman played 83 ODI matches and scored 2338 runs with six centuries.
BCCI President N Srinivasan paid his tribute to the retiring batting legend in a statement.
“Not many batsmen made batting look as easy as VVS Laxman. He was an exceptional cricketer, who excelled in pressure situations. The classic innings that he essayed in crisis situations shaped the history of Indian cricket, none more so than the 281 against Australia at Kolkata in March 2001. If a cricketer’s greatness is to be measured in terms of his performances against the best opposition of his time, then Laxman stands right at the top. His record against Australia, the world’s no. 1 team for the better part of his career, speaks for itself. Indian cricket-lovers, and the game of cricket itself, will miss him for the elegance and grace that he epitomised, on and off the field. On behalf of the BCCI, I would like to wish VVS Laxman all the best for the future.”
