Quote:Thirteen years ago exactly, at the Eden Gardens, Calcutta, the mighty Australians were locked in conflict with an Indian team they had easily disposed of less than two weeks before. The visitors had won the first test at the Wankhede Stadium by 10 wickets in less than three days, and had India in a corner when they asked them to follow-on 274 runs behind.

What came next was nothing short of a miracle. VVS Laxman, whose 167 at Sydney in January 2000 was then the lone test hundred to his name, played the innings of his life. Last out for 59, batting at six in the first innings, he was promoted to three in the second and arrived at the wicket with India 52/1. From there he fashioned an innings as unlikely and as sublime as the cricketing world had ever seen, guiding his side to 657/7 declared. His 281 lasted 452 balls and spanned 632 minutes, and in the company of Rahul Dravid, with whom he had switched places in the batting order, constructed a platform from which they contrived a most improbable victory