VVS Laxman, one of India’s most versatile batsmen, turned 42 on Tuesday. Considered a part of the big four, which consisted of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, Laxman was the backbone if the other three flopped on any given day. Laxman’s famous innings of 281 against Australia is considered to be one of the most pioneering innings of Indian cricket.

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Born in Hyderabad, Laxman proved his mettle in 2001 against Australia at Eden Gardens. It was the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy and the Australians were in control. The visitors had taken a 274-run lead after the first innings and captain Steve Waugh opted to enforce the follow on. However, what transpired after that changed Indian cricket forever.

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Laxman played a match-winning 281, with Dravid scoring 180, as India set the Australians a target of 384. India won the Test by 171 runs. Laxman scored 8,781 Test runs at an average of 45.97 in 134 matches with 17 hundreds. He retired in 2012.

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Check out some of his birthday wishes by former cricketers, which describes the man from Hyderabad.