Ala Hazrat - or his exalted highness, as the Nizam of Hyderabad is referred to in history books - was known for his laid-back ways. Old-timers who lived their lives in the vicinity of the Charminar will tell you how the ruler and his dynasty helped the city adopt the distinctive manners and habits it has grown to be associated with.

Two of Hyderabad’s favourite pastimes are feasting on Biryani — which takes close to five hours to cook — and sipping Lamsa — tea made from leaves imported from Iran. As far as cricket goes, their heroes fell into the same lazy, elegant bracket, be it Mohammad Azharuddin, ML Jaisimha or now, VVS Laxman.

There’s one thing they had in common: Like most things Hyderabadi, they never seemed to be in a hurry. All three played the ball late, used their wrists to an amazing effect, captained Hyderabad, averaged between 43 and 47 in Tests and rarely crossed a strike-rate of 75.

As the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) secretary puts it, “On a perfect day to watch cricket, it’s only batsmen like them who could make the game look better.”

New obsession

Today, the fever of Twenty20 has gripped Hyderabad. Both the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and the Indian Premier League (IPL) have seen fans queuing up at the stadiums. Players such as Shahid Afridi, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs have been recruited as ‘locals’.

And yet, it is VVS Laxman who happens to be cheered the loudest. The Deccan Chargers website has seen some anti-Laxman messages, but not once has the right-hander been booed at the ground — even as his team lost three matches at home and he’s struggled to come to terms with this extremely short format.

... contd.