One more stalwarts on the bow out.The classy VVS Lakshman ,the largely unsung mega star amidst contemporary superstars has called it a day.

The 37-year-old veteran batsman, the mainstay of India's most famed batting quartet that had the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly in the roll ,has hung up his boots after a sprawling 16 years of international presence for the country.He was a champion batsman and one of the all-time- greatests of the game with abundant elegance and prowess.

"we were expecting him to play till Australia series. It was quite a surprise," a teary-eyed Sailaja his wife said at the press conference ."Definitely. Like other well wishers, we were expecting him to play till the Australian series. His aim was to beat Australia and England in the home series. " She added.

I announce my retirement from international cricket with immediate effect,” the champion batsman declared at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday. He bid adieu when he already had his berth secure in the squad for the Test series against low profiled and depleted New Zealand starting on August 23.

The hasty decision though he claims otherwise ,has come on close heels of the nasty fusillades from ex-players and some school marm newspaper reporters,that he is a stumbling block before youngsters wanting to make an entry in the game.

He is the second to be lined up in the same year to retire after Rahul Dravid."It was a tough decision to take, I have always listened to my inner conscience. The inner voice is a divine voice, I have always done that right through my career", the sober man announced before the crowd.

VVS Lakshman always kept away from controversies and the one-up

manship congenital in the game.In fact he kept himself ahead of it and his bat made all the talking .He played,enthused and rejoiced in the game as a manifestation of his love for the country and took pride in being part of the game ."I have always kept my country's success and needs ahead of my personal aspirations".He told the audience.

His test debut as International test cricketer was against South Africa at Ahmedabad in 1996 scoring 51 in the second innings as India won by 64 runs. He wore Indian cap in 134 Tests, garnered 8,781 runs at an average of 45.97,hammering 17 hundreds and 56 half-tons. He had his debut in ODI against Zimbabwe at Cuttack, in 1998 and though a truant has played 81 matches with a total of 2,338 runs with an average of 30.76 .He made six 100s with top s core at 131.He played 265 First-Class matches amassing 19,520 runs with an average of 51.5 which included 54 centuries top scoring at 353 runs.

His fielding prowess were mediocre and quiet often came under the radar of cricket pundits.Though not acrobatic and an acclaimed fielder he had a squeaky clean pair of safe hands that pouched on everything that came in ts way.He has 135 Test catches to his credit.

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