VVS Laxman heaps praise on former India captain’s ability of ‘viewing cricket as a sport and not a matter of life and death’

VVS Laxman played his cricket with a lot honesty and he shows the same values now in his role as a cricket pundit. Be it with a microphone in hand inside the commentary box or while expressing himself on social media, Laxman is generous with his praise and also precise with critique at times.

Known for his astute analysis of the game, the former India middle-order batsman has been paying rich tributes to his former teammates over the past few days. On Tuesday he took to Twitter and heaped praise on former India captain MS Dhoni.

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“Blessed with the rare equanimity of viewing cricket as a sport and not a matter of life and death, @msdhoni’s calling card was composure, especially under pressure. The 2007 World T20 triumph catalysed the stirring captaincy saga of a leader who talked through his deeds,” Laxman wrote on Twitter. 

Laxman is someone who played with Dhoni during the wicket-keeper-batsman’s initial years in the Indian team and then played under his captaincy. Laxman was part of the team when India reached the number 1 ranking in Test cricket for the first time. He is someone who has seen Dhoni operate from close quarters and in fact seen him change the face of Indian cricket with memorable victories.

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Dhoni gave India some of its biggest victories in ICC tournaments, becoming the first and only captain to win the ICC WT20 (2007), ICC World Cup (2011) and ICC Champions Trophy (2013).

In Test cricket, India’s performance under Dhoni at home was pretty good, except a solitary series loss to England in 2012. But away from home India’s performance dipped majorly from 2011 onwards, with series losses in England, Australia and South Africa.

While Dhoni as a captain continued to get laurels for the country, Dhoni the cricketer evolved from being a big hitting maverick to a calm and composed finisher of games.

He last played for India in the 2019 ICC World Cup semi-final against New Zealand and was due to lead Chennai Super Kings in the IPL before the tournament got postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.