The Offside

It is time the Indians began to think positively. Successful limited-overs sides all over the world ­ Australia and South Africa, for example - have separate teams for Tests and one- dayers. A look at the skills required in the two different forms of the game makes it clear that VVS Laxman is better suited to the longer version.

In the Tests, the emphasis is on longevity - long stays at the wicket, where scoring runs at a brisk pace takes a back seat to survival. The bowling has more teeth, with short-pitched stuff and attacking fields in use. In the limited-overs game, on the other hand, one has to be fleet-footed, quick-thinking and constantly looking to force the pace.

Laxman is not the fittest cricketer around. On the field, he has not only dropped some vital catches in the slip cordon, but he has been a liability in the outfield. Fielding inside the circle, he is slow off his toes, and in the outfield, he is a slow chaser. All this may be attributed to a knee injury he sustained earlier. That may be a good reason for it, but that kind of inadequacy is difficult to hide in limited-overs cricket.

In 37 one-day internationals, Laxman has managed a total of 857 runs at a disappointing average of 25.96. What's more, these runs have come at a strike-rate of under 65 runs per hundred balls. Those are not the kind of statistics that make for good reading if you are a Laxman fan.

He is a great cricketer and has done India proud more than once, but limited-overs games are simply not his cup of tea. The Indian team was right in dropping Laxman.

The Onside

It is one of the oldest, most well-worn cliches in the vocabulary of the cricket writer - form is temporary, class is permanent. In this case, it is a question of a very classy batsman being in fine form. What can be more compelling than that?

In the recently concluded Test series, which the West Indies won 2-1, VVS Laxman was far and away India's most successful batsman. On wickets where players of the calibre of Sachin Tendulkar struggled, Laxman took the initiative and came out successfully.

Batting with confidence and poise, Laxman was up to the task of facing anything the spinners or pacemen dished out. Notching up 474 runs at an average of 79, Laxman was far ahead of the next man ­ Rahul Dravid (404 runs at 57.71).

When one is away touring, batting with confidence is of utmost importance. In foreign circumstances, with a majority of batsmen struggling to come to terms with the conditions, Laxman showed that he had it in him to take the bowling on. The Trinidad Test match saw Laxman's contribution reach a peak ­ scoring 67 and 74 in an Indian victory.

Of course, there are those who would argue that performance in Tests should not be the criterion for selection in one-dayers. There may be some truth in that. However, Laxman is the kind of batsman who scores his runs with a large percentage of boundaries. In full flow, he is unstoppable and can change the course of a match singlehandedly. In short, he's a match-winner. India simply cannot afford to leave out such a cricketer and were wrong in dropping Laxman from the one-day team.

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