3 is the magic number for India

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Under Greg Chappell, India have experimented with the no.3 position, one that is vital in both forms of the game. We have seen Irfan Pathan and MS Dhoni promoted up the order in the search of quick runs and more recently in a more defensive move, Dinesh Mongia. What all these players have in common is they are "multi-dimensional cricketers" - they do more than one thing. Yet Pathan has been found out at 3, Dhoni isnt equipped either to handle the new ball (maybe in Asia) and Mongia cant bat. You can go on about his bowling which is no better than Veeru or Sachin or his fielding which is well below Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina, the fact is he has never been a runscorer at the top level. Yet there is a world class batsman so easy on the eye who is proven in this position and has the ability to score big runs against the best attacks and in a variety of conditions. He also happens to be a mighty fine slipper - a position more important than ever now with greater use of fielding restrictions! He is quite simply: VVS Laxman!