Just after the winnings runs had been struck beyond point, Sachin Tendulkar shook hands with the Pakistani players that came up to him. For Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled as well as he ever has done in a fractured 10-year international career, there was a quick hug and a quiet word, a veteran warrior recognising the efforts of another despite the frequent questioning of his commitment.

Yet Shoaib wasn't the only man on a mission during the Delhi Test. The first to feel the extent of Tendulkar's joy had been the non-striker, VVS Laxman, whose brilliant first-innings 72 had smoothed the path to victory. Anil Kumble, India's new captain, isn't prone to hyperbole. He seldom gets worked up either. But when a certain name was mentioned at the post-match press conference in Delhi, he was a lot more animated than he usually is.

"I think Laxman's knock was very crucial considering the circumstances," he said when asked about India's premier batting stylist and the presence of a certain Yuvraj Singh on the fringes. "He's a fantastic player and his partnership with Dhoni was very critical for us. I don't know why there is always a sword hanging over his head. It's only a perception from those not within the dressing room. We know what quality he brings in and his role in the team is very crucial."

Laxman's career, like Kieslowski's Colours saga, has had three distinct parts. In the first, a precocious young man struggled at the highest level, scoring just a lone century while averaging 27.06 in his first 20 Tests. In 13 of those games, he had been makeshift opener, a reluctant first line of defence against the new ball who decided that enough was enough after losing his place following a home defeat to South Africa in 1999-2000.

Funnily enough though, it was one of those games that first showcased his glorious strokeplay. In a Sydney Test that India lost by an innings and plenty, Laxman drove, cut and flicked with a touch of magic on his way to 167 from 198 balls. A Test later, he was on the sidelines, and when another call came to open, he politely declined.

To the world at large, he was a profligate talent. Laxman's response to such jibes was simple. He went back to domestic cricket and piled on the runs. Hundred followed hundred, one monumental effort on the back of another. The selectors had no choice but to recall him, though failure in Mumbai as Steve Waugh's Australians swept to a 16th consecutive success once again put him under the microscope.

As Paul Anderson showed in Magnolia, it takes just a moment to change a life. Laxman's moment came at Kolkata's Eden Gardens. He was India's best batsman in the first innings with 59, but they still finished well adrift of the follow-on target. The series, it appeared, was lost. When he got back to the dressing room, John Wright told him that he'd be batting at No.3 in the second innings.

He was back in the middle almost 90 minutes later, after Shiv Sunder Das and Sadagoppan Ramesh had wiped 52 from the deficit. By the time he departed to a standing ovation 631 minutes later, India were 334 runs in front and well on the way to a come-from-behind victory that eclipsed even Headingley 1981 on account of the legendary opposition.

That incomparable 281 was the springboard for the Very Very Special phase of his career. Over a 30-Test period from Kolkata to Sydney 2004, Laxman would have been the first name on any team-sheet. He averaged 63.26 in that time, and there was further punishment for Waugh and Australia in a series that India almost stole in Sydney. Laxman's 178 there was batting at its purest, and even Tendulkar at the other end was made to look like a Gary Kirsten-like accumulator.

That series should have been the springboard to true greatness. Instead, the Red stage of the Laxman saga has seen only sporadic excellence and inconsistency. In his last 34 Tests, he has averaged 36.97, with only three hundreds. His relative decline has mirrored that of his peers, and a line-up that David Frith compared to Hammond, Sutcliffe and Hobbs has usually been anything but that since the summer of 2004.

Many will wonder how different Laxman's career might have been if India hadn't unearthed one of the all-time great No.3s in Rahul Dravid. Even during the relatively fallow period dating back to Sydney 2004, Laxman's defining innings have come at that position. Defensive Australian fields throttled him on home turf in 2004, but he still unveiled a gorgeous half-century on a spiteful pitch in Mumbai to inspire India to a consolation win.

A year later, he again came in at the fall of the first wicket to thwart Muttiah Muralitharan and tilt the final Test of the series in India's favour. At one-drop, he has averaged 48.19 in 17 Tests, and though his figures at the No6 slot he now inhabits are not shabby [an average of 45.86 from 38 games], he's had less time to script Kolkata-like innings.

Given how well Sourav Ganguly batted from No6 at the Wanderers last December, it might make sense to switch their positions in the order. The statistics show that Ganguly has done better at six, and a promotion will give Laxman more opportunity to play the long innings he's eminently capable of. At 33, the magnificence of Eden might just be a fading memory but when he returns there this Friday, Laxman has a chance to ensure that a very special career doesn't end with the slow fade to black.