At a time when many are busy dissecting exactly what went wrong for the Indian team against Australia, one man prefers to look ahead. VVS Laxman, not part of the one-day mix any more and back from a successful county stint with Lancashire, is focusing on the India-Sri Lanka Test series beginning next week.

In Mohali with the Hyderabad team for their Ranji Trophy match with Punjab, Laxman wants to make the best of what would be his last chance to have a hit before the first Test, which begins on November 16 at Ahmedabad. “I am looking forward to playing the Sri Lankans. It would be really nice to get back to the team after a long gap,” Laxman said, adding: “We would want to win the series and achieve the status of being the number one Test side in the world. We are very close, and if I can be there when we achieve that, I’ll be really happy. I’m sure Sri Lanka would also strive to do the same, which will make the series highly competitive.”

India last played a Test in April and for Laxman, it would be a re-union with his India team mates after seven months. But he did keep himself busy in that time, playing for Lancashire and getting in some runs. He topped Lancashire’s first-class run tally with 857 runs in 11 matches, including four centuries. “I would like to pitch in with some match-winning performances for India. That would be quite satisfying as Lanka have good bowlers who can test the ability of any batsman,” he said.

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