Azhar Ali dreams to play Test cricket alongside batting greats Rahul Dravid & VVS Laxman

Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali has picked the two best batsmen that he would like to play alongside in Test cricket and he had no hesitation in choosing two of the biggest stalwarts of India and world cricket- Rahul Dravid & VVS Laxman.

Azhar Ali, who only plays in one format for Pakistan after deciding not to prolong his limited-overs career a few years back is regarded as one of the best modern-day batsmen in the longest format of the game for his country.

Azhar Ali picks VVS Laxman & Rahul Dravid

It so happened that Azhar Ali was recently involved in a Q&A session with the fans on Twitter and that is when CricTracker came forward and asked him about one batsman he would like to play alongside in red-ball cricket to which the former Pakistan captain replied by saying that he would not play with one but two batsmen and they are 'Very very special' Laxman and Rahul Dravid respectively.

Rahul Dravid & VVS Laxman's famous as well as impactful Test knocks in tandem.

Both Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were involved in two match-winning partnerships against Australia in 2001 and 2003 respectively.

The first of the two partnerships against Australia had come during the homes series in March 2001 at the iconic Eden Gardens.

India seemed to be down and out of the contest after they were bundled out for 171 in reply to Australia's 445 after which the then skipper Steve Waugh enforced the follow-on which turned out to be spot-on as the Sourav Ganguly-led side were reduced to 232/4. However, Dravid and Laxman had other ideas as their 376 runs for the fifth wicket stand. Laxman scored 281 while Dravid scored 180 as India registered 657/7.

In reply, Australia were skittled for 212 as India won the contest by 171 runs. 

The other Dravid-Laxman special moment had come more than a couple of years later at the Adelaide Oval in December 2003. India in their first innings were reeling at 85/4 and that is when Dravid and Laxman came to the rescue.

The duo smashed the Aussie bowlers all around the park and added 303 runs for the fifth wicket. Laxman scored 148 while Dravid scored 233 as India finished their innings at 523 thereby registering a 78-run first-innings lead. 

The Aussies were bowled out for 196 in their second innings riding on Ajit Agarkar's six-wickets. India were set a target of 230 runs. Even though it sounded easy but it seemed a herculean task as the Sourav Ganguly-led side lost wickets at crucial junctures. However, the first innings hero Rahul Dravid anchored the run chase and led India to a famous win with an unbeaten 72. He was also adjudged Man of the Match and eventually went on to bag the Man of the Series award.