V.V.S. Laxman is a renowned former Indian international cricketer, former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-hand batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in Test cricket. V.V.S. Laxman was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. He studied at the Little Flower High School, Hyderabad. Though he joined a medical school for his undergraduate studies, Laxman chose cricket as a career.

Laxman made his first-class debut for Hyderabad against Punjab in the quarter-final match of 1992–93 Ranji Trophy season. He scored a duck in the first innings and 17 in the second. He played only one match for Hyderabad in the next season, before getting dropped. However, he was named in the South Zone squad for the 1994-95 Duleep Trophy in the back of his impressive outings for India Under-19s, but he failed to score big in the tournament.

V.V.S. Laxman made his Under-19 debut for India against Australia in February 1994. Batting at six, he made 88 in his debut innings against a bowling attack that consisted of Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, both of whom were making their debuts too. In the second game of the series, Laxman scored an unbeaten 151 in the first innings and 77 in the second innings to help his team register a 226-run victory.

V.V.S. Laxman is known for his fluid style, technical soundness and aggressiveness. Sambit Bal of ESPN Cricinfo writes: “At his sublime best, VVS Laxman is a sight for the gods. Wristy, willowy and sinuous, he can match – sometimes even better – Tendulkar for Strokeplay. He has the rare gift of being able to hit the same ball to either side. He is one of the few players to have played 100 Test matches, without ever appearing in a One-Day Cricket World Cup. Despite being a relatively slow runner between the wickets, Laxman compensated with his stroke play and fast scoring. In 2002, he was named one of Wisden’s five Cricketers of the Year.

V.V.S. Laxman is currently the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Laxman was a member of the Indian team that was one of the joint-winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, which the title was also shared with Sri Lanka.

In 2011, Laxman was awarded the Padma Shri award, India’s fourth highest civilian award. In 2012, Laxman retired from international cricket.