'I had never seen him so angry' - Suresh Raina recalls when VVS Laxman lost his cool at Pragyan Ojha

There was something about the clash against Australia which brought the best out of VVS Laxman. The crafty Indian batsman always found a way to score big and crucial runs against the Aussies. One such match-winning knock came in the Mohali Test in 2010.

Chasing a total of 216 runs, India found themselves in a bad position at 124 for 8. India was down and out. However, a strong partnership of 81 runs between Laxman and Ishant Sharma pulled them right back into the contest.

Interestingly, Laxman was playing with a runner through most of his innings. Suresh Raina, who had scored a very few runs in the second innings, was playing as his runner. During the last few runs of the innings, Laxman once reacted furiously after seeing Pragyan Ojha going for a run unnecessarily. Recalling that moment, Raina talked about the famous Test match in an interaction with Aakash Chopra.

Suresh Raina recalls the heroic innings of VVS Laxman

Suresh Raina, who had made his Test debut earlier that year, said that he never saw Laxman angry until that moment. Had Ojha lost his wicket, India would have lost the Test match as well. And, all the efforts of Laxman would have gone into vain.

“Laxman Bhai was suffering from a back spasm. I had never seen Laxman Bhai so angry. Pragyan Ojha then Ishant Sharma came and he batted very nicely. We all four were talking and Mitchell Johnson was bowling reverse swing. Then Hussey fielded and threw a bowl but it missed the stumps. When I went in as a substitute runner, I decided that I will dive but not get Laxman bhai out,” Suresh Raina said.

The moment was quite iconic for Indian cricket fans. VVS Laxman, who is known to be docile and calm, has never been seen losing his anger on the field. But, on that day, he reacted quite badly on the young spinner, Ojha.

India finally managed to get to the target and Laxman remained unbeaten on 73 runs off just 79 balls. Ojha, on the other hand, scored 5 runs but managed to score the winning runs. Well, technically it was a leg-bye but still. Australia then went onto lose the next Test match as well in Bengaluru, handing India a 2-0 series triumph.