Best sledgers I’ve come across are Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, reveals VVS Laxman

Indian cricketers have known to be victims of sledging rather than the perpetrators behind it. However, former Indian Test batsman VVS Laxman got candid on the subject of ‘sledging’ and the misconceptions surrounding the topic during a recent launch event for his book ‘281 and Beyond’ on Thursday in Mumbai. The former batsman spoke about how the term ‘sledging’ is still misunderstood in the Indian sub-continent and revealed that the two best sledgers he knew were in fact, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.

“It doesn’t mean you abuse someone or you start talking about personal issues. The term sledging is about how you distract the batsman, or the bowler too. And there are various ways to do that," Laxman said.

“I felt the best sledgers I’ve come across were Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. Zaheer was so smart, he would talk about the things which may irritate the batsmen. Something as simple as ‘you are struggling now. I know that I’ve got you.’ It’s just about creating that iota of doubt in the batsman’s mind.”

Laxman, who played 134 Test matches for India and amassed 8,781 runs, also claimed that aggression played an important role in shaping the cricketers. The 44-year-old then shared an anecdote from the 2008 series against Australia which better demonstrated the tactics employed by Indian cricketers in his era.

“Aggression has to be very natural. Some players show off their aggression, some are internally aggressive. If you are trying to be someone who you are not, then you will struggle. Ultimately when you are playing at the highest level, you have to be mentally tough and mentally tough or having killer instinct doesn’t mean you show off your emotions. It’s about doing well in tough conditions. Whoever does that, will be mentally tough," Laxman added.

“It was a conscious effort that Zaheer would be going against Matthew Hayden and Harbhajan would be going after Ricky Ponting. Whether it’s a press conference or even a formal function, this exchange of words, not abusing someone or crossing the line, just replying or talking in that fashion, I think that’s fun and I always enjoyed that kind of gamesmanship.”

The former SRH mentor then went on to give his opinion on India’s chances in the ongoing tour of Australia. Having lost the opening T20I, Laxman expects Virat Kohli & Co. to bounce back and do some serious damage to the Australian team over the course of the tour.

“I believe this tour gives the current Indian team the opportunity, not just because David Warner and Steve Smith are not there. I just feel there is enough potential in this team to beat Australia in Australia.

“What’s important when you’re playing overseas Tests is, in a Test there are some crucial moments which can decide the result. In the past what’s happened with the current Indian team is they have given themselves an opportunity to win the Test match but that crucial moment, they were not able to win or capitalise. Once they win those crucial moments, I believe that they’ve got the potential to beat Australia in Australia,” Laxman concluded.