Laxman Sivaramakrishnan

Siva first drew attention as a 12-year-old claiming 7 for 2 in a Madras inter-schools championship game. Siva's second Test appearance was in the first Test against England at the Bombay. His first wicket was Graeme Fowler who was caught and bowled off a full toss. Many of Siva's wickets came off full-tosses and half volleys. He could make the ball dip sharply late in its flight which often made the dismissed batsman look silly. His 6 for 64 and 6 for 117 helped India to an eight wicket win. It was India's first win in a Test match since 1981. Siva took another six wickets in the next innings at Delhi. He took only five more wickets in the series.

In the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in the same season, he finished as the top wicket taker. It was a time when spinners, especially leg-spinners, were considered a luxury in one day cricket. A memorable dismissal was of Javed Miandad who was stumped off a leg break in the final. Siva did similarly well in the four nations tournament in Sharjah a few weeks later.