MCC honours VVS Laxman with a life membership

VVS Laxman joins the prestigious list of the latest former India player to be awarded an honorary life membership of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). The 42-year-old right-handed batsman becomes the fifth Indian player to be honoured with the highly coveted membership. Apart from Laxman, four other legends of Indian cricket- Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan have been previously honoured by the MCC.

For a major part of his career, Laxman batted in the lower middle order and on numerous occasions played match-winning and saving innings for the country. The man from Hyderabad made his Test debut in 1996 against South Africa which included a half-century in the second innings. His knock of 281 against Australia in Eden Gardens in 2001 is considered as one of the greatest Test innings ever.

In 2002, Wisden named him as one of the five Cricketers of the Year whereas, in 2011, he was awarded the Padma Shri award, India’s fourth highest civilian award. Laxman served the Indian cricket for 16-years before retiring in 2012. Eventually, he ended up representing the national team in 134 Tests and 86 ODIs scoring 8781 & 2338 runs respectively.

Laxman feels honoured to be a part of the MCC

VVS has played for Lancashire in English county cricket and was also the captain of the Deccan Chargers team in the inaugural season of IPL. On the occasion, the Very Very Special man said: “It’s an absolute honour to become a member of such a prestigious and historic cricket club. I have always admired the rich heritage the Club stands for and I look forward to being a part of the incredible culture of the Club.”

John Stephenson, Assistant Secretary (Cricket) of MCC said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome VVS Laxman as an Honorary Life Member of the Club. He was a wonderfully talented batsman and a fantastic servant to cricket in India, making him fully deserving of this honour. It was always a joy to watch him when he played here and we look forward to him returning to Lord’s as an MCC Member.”