No Indian has made a higher Test score than V V S Laxman, but he yearns for consistency Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman – let's call him VVS and be done with it – has not played a Test in England but he knows English cricket well enough. He scored a hundred in his first Under-19 Test at Taunton in 1994 when England's innings was opened by a promising pair named Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan. When he was 20 he played in the Bradford League for Hanging Heaton and returned the next year with Pudsey St Lawrence.

One of VVS's team-mates was Matthew Hoggard. The late Phil Carrick, the Yorkshire left-arm spinner who took on the captaincy at Pudsey, thought the two of them would play Test cricket against each other. It may well happen this summer. VVS wishes Carrick could have seen them and mourns his death two years ago.

He is wistful about his time in Yorkshire. "I had to look after myself and I learned a lot about independence," he says. He also learned that second best would not do. "You are the overseas player and you have a lot of responsibility and you try and win matches for them. You have to get in the habit of winning matches."

The habit has been incompletely acquired for India but VVS, who is only 27, has already won a match that has inscribed his name in the collective cricket memory and in the record books. His 281 against Australia at Kolkata in 2001 was more than Sunil Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar ever scored for India and was done in style. "I'm a stroke player and I always like to dominate all the bowlers," he says. "That day I just decided I would play according to the merit of the ball. No premeditated shots. If the ball was there to be defended I would defend but if the ball was meant to be punished I would punish it." Forty-four balls were meant for punishment and went for four.

Best of all at the time, the innings made possible India's famous 171-run victory that ended Australia's historic sequence of 16 straight Test wins. VVS was suddenly elevated to hero status in India and far beyond. "It is one of those moments which I will relish throughout my lifetime," he says.

It can be disconcerting to meet celebrated cricketers. Under the helmet in the middle their best performances exude maturity and authority. But when they sit down to talk they look like young men again, their faces unformed, sometimes uncertain about their place in the world. VVS does not look like the breaker of big records. He has big, sparkling eyes and a row of fine teeth is revealed by a boyish smile. He is polite, obliging and conscious of the need to go on learning. He likes books about achievers and read an autobiography of Phil Jackson, coach of the LA Lakers, Chicago Bulls and of Michael Jordan in particular.

Jordan's celebrity in the United States is the equal of Tendulkar's in India. Since cricket in India is a religion, Sachin is a god and VVS enjoys a first-hand study: "There is a greatness about him in a way," he says. "He is so modest and down-to-earth." Unlike Virender Sehwag, VVS does not model his batting on Tendulkar, although he learns from him about the way he plans an innings and prepares for a match.

His own motivation is disconcertingly simple and romantic. "More than any number of hundreds I would like to win as many games as possible for my country. That is my dream," he says.

The dream nearly turned into a nightmare. VVS made his reputation in his hometown of Hyderabad, where his parents are doctors and Mohammad Azharuddin was the prince among cricketers. VVS's wristy style reminded the selectors of Azhar, although he says he was a wristy batsman before he set eyes on Azhar. VVS made his Test debut a few days after his 22nd birthday, scoring 11 and 51 against South Africa at Ahmedabad.

He did not click, though. Before the unforgettable Australian series his place was insecure. He had played 19 Tests, scored one memorable century at Sydney in 1999-2000 but averaged only 27.80. He was opening the batting and uncomfortable in the role; he says he lacks the mind-set of an opener. A purple patch when he scored 10 centuries in 10 successive domestic matches propelled him back into the Test team. His critics wondered if he was a flat-track bully in the Graeme Hick mould but the purple patch continued in Tests, where he finally settled in the middle order. He has rarely looked back, except in ODIs where he struggles to make the team.

In India's most recent series in the West Indies VVS topped the team's averages with 474 runs at 79.00 including 130 on the feather-bed at Antigua, his first hundred since the great one. He was not particularly happy. He thought he should have had two hundreds in the series and worries that he does not convert enough good scores into three figures. Even so he has 2,190 Test runs at 41.32.

He first watched England play India when he was 11 in 1986 on TV highlights that had been recorded for him by his uncle. "I loved Dilip Vengsarkar's batting. He got two hundreds – one at Lord's, the second I think at Headingley." India won 2-0, their last series win outside south Asia. One of his favourite batsmen is David Gower. "He had a lot of time to play. That's the greatness of the player. The more time he has, obviously the more options he's got."

And has he got it? "I think so. Whenever I'm playing well I've definitely got the time to play shots." We may be about to get the answer at first hand.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd