Known for his historic knock of 281 against Australia in 2001, the career of VVS Laxman, who turns 42 today, signifies a lot more than that.

Considered one of the best batsmen India has ever produced in Test cricket, Laxman was a member of the ‘Great Indian Batting Quartet’ along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, who took Indian batting to great heights in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Considered an underachiever until his life changed forever in March 2001 with a magnificent 281 in Kolkata when India looked set to go 0-2 down to Australia. It was at that time the highest Test score by an Indian.

Lax repeatedly saved his best for the Aussies and became just the second Indian to score more than 2,000 runs against Australia in 2008. He announced his retirement in August 2012.

More sporting birthdays on this day:

1935: Gary Player, retired golfing legend, who won nine majors between 1961 and 1978 (81).

1963: Mark Hughes, Welsh former footballer, who is the current manager of Stoke City in the Premier League (53).

1988: Masahiro Tanaka, Japanese baseball player, who is a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees (28).

1991: Jiang Yuyuan, Chinese retired gymnast, who won Olympic team gold Beijing 2008 (25).