The importance of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman 

How many times have you chuckled when Rahul Dravid has taken guard for India in a Test match. How many times have you wildly cheered the arrival of Sachin, after the departure of India's most reliable batsman. It's payback time now! Indian cricket is feeling the pinch. In the absence of two of its greatest Test batsmen, India are feeling the heat against a rampaging South African side.

Sachin Tendulkar's brilliance and Sehwag's nonchalant ways at the crease was not enough to help India to a face saving draw. What the team needed was someone to put a dead bat in front of Steyn and Morkel's raw pace. At the end of the match, Captain MS Dhoni rued the absence of the two stalwarts. "We were blown away by Dale Steyn by his swing, both conventional and reverse. We missed Rahul and Laxman", he said.
                 Dravid and Laxman, have won and drawn far more games for India, than any other player in the current Test side. The Dravid-Laxman resume is topped by the miraculous win that both these players manufactured out of a near hopeless situation in Kolkata. The victory still ranks as one of the greatest in Indian Test match history.
The same pair rescued India from a precarious situation in the Adelaide Test in the 2003-04 tour to Australia. India went on to register history on the back of Rahul Dravid's 233 and VVS Laxman's 148 in the first innings. Dravid returned to fire an unbeaten 72 runs, which guided India to victory in the Test.
                 The fact is most of India's win abroad have come in conjunction with Dravid scoring heavily for the team. Think of all the Test wins we have had abroad; Adelaide, Rawalpindi, Leeds, Perth-all of them Dravid's name etched over them. Not one of these sweet victories has come without the stamp of Dravid on it.
Same is the case for VVS Laxman. His epic 281 won us the Kolkata Test, the knock of 148 runs in Adelaide, provided support to Dravid's magnificent double hundred. In the eight Test matches that India has won against Australia, Laxman averages a mighty 71.57, with two hundreds. On the same parameter, Dravid averages 68.33, with two hundreds to his credit. Such has been the contribution of these two cricketers.
The Nagpur Test has provided a glimpse of the future of Indian Test cricket, and without Dravid and  Laxman          it looks scary.