Insisting that he was a capable batsman in both formats of the game, V V S Laxman today said he was willing to wait for another four years to get a chance to play in cricket’s biggest event - the World Cup.Laxman is the only player of the current team besides uncapped Rakesh Patel to be dropped from the 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming tournament in southern Africa.But the stylish batsman said though he was disappointed, he was hopeful of making a comeback.“I was a standby in 1999 and this time I am out of it altogether,” he said. “But I know I have it in me to succeed in one-day cricket.”Laxman was face-to-face with this grave moment of his career in the closing hours of last year when he learnt Punjab’s Dinesh Mongia had replaced him in the squad for the mega event.Suddenly, his epoch-making 281 against Australia at Eden Gardens early last year and the honour of playing the fifth best innings of all times, seemed a distant memory.Laxman’s best has always been reserved for team’s bleakest moments — his 167 against Australia at Sydney in 2000 when all seemed lost; the epic 281 against the same team which turned what could have been an innings defeat into a miraculous victory; centuries against the West Indies at Antigua and Eden Gardens when defeats were a probability - he has often been India’s last defence against odds.“There is little doubt I am extremely disappointed, even shocked,” Laxman said. “I was working towards the World Cup and hoping I could contribute towards the team’s success,” he said. Laxman, 28, is cricket’s biggest gentleman — a shy, almost apologetic young man of elegant manners who wears a smile at the worst of times as he does now in this extremely dark moment of his career.Laxman was bewildered at his omission after what he did against the West Indies in a home series in November last year. “I did fairly well in India’s last one-day engagement,” said the batsman from Hyderabad.
