Former India batsman VVS Laxman on Saturday criticised India captain MS Dhoni for the manner in which he treated Harbhajan Singh. Laxman, who is part of theStar Cricketcommentary team for the first Test against Australia felt that the off-spinner who was picked as India's second specialist spinner needed to be encouraged, not ignored by Dhoni.
Harbhajan was not given a bowl in the last session of day 1 and Laxman couldn't quite figure out why Dhoni hadn't bothered given Harbhajan a bowl in the first hour of play on day two on Saturday. Dhoni is sending out a wrong message by keeping Harbhajan on the sidelines. He is making him [Harbhajan] feel unwanted in the team, he said on-air. A guy who is playing his 100th Test doesn't deserve that sort of treatment.
Hyderabad: Just retired VVS Laxman today declined to comment on his relationship with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni but clarified that there was no controversy as has been reported by the media.
There was no controversy at all... I don't want to speak anything about it, Laxman told PTI from his Manikonda residence today.
It started with Laxman telling the media that he couldn't get in touch with Dhoni to intimate him about his decision to quit international cricket. This was followed by Dhoni's admission that he wasn't invited to Laxman's house for dinner like some of the other seniors in the team.
The absence of VVS Laxman, whoannounced his retirement ahead of the Test series against NewZealand, seems to have costed the Hyderabad CricketAssociation (HCA) dearly with a poor turnout expected for theFive-day match, beginning here tomorrow.
According to the HCA sources, only 2,500 tickets havebeen sold for the match in a 39,000 capacity Rajiv GandhiInternational Stadium.
Local hero VVS Laxman's retirement just ahead of the Test series against New Zealand beginning on Thursday has lessened the general interest level among common people.
The Rajiv Gandhi stadium at Uppal wore a desolate look with little interest seen among the locals as Team India practised in the morning followed by the visitors' session in the afternoon.
If the Hyderabad Cricket Association officials had earlier sounded unhappy for not being able to see Laxman one last time, the curator Y L Chandrashekhar too became emotional.
Hyderabad: VVS Laxman's decision to retire with immediate effect didn't just surprise the cricketing fraternity but also shocked his better half Sailaja, who was left wondering how the veteran would do without his first wife.
I was taken aback (when Laxman first conveyed his decision) because his aim was to beat Australia and England in India. So, we were expecting him to play till Australia series. It was quite a surprise, a teary-eyed Sailaja said at the press conference in which Laxman decided call it quits from international cricket yesterday.
But, he listened to his inner consciousness. That's what matters more, she added.
Replying to a query, she said she would have liked to seem him continue playing for some more time.
Definitely. Like other well wishers, we were expecting him to play till the Australian series. His aim was to beat Australia and England in the home series. Because, they (India) could not perform well, she said.
Laxman would, however, definitely miss playing cricket as the game is his first wife, she said.
Describing Laxman as philosophical and religious, she said her husband follows the tenets of Bhagwad Gita.
VVS Laxman, who made batting look like an art form rather than a sporting endeavour, will never appear again in the whites of an Indian Test side.
He joins Rahul Dravid on the sidelines as the great batting team of the past 10 years now begins to splinter into memories rather than active deeds. And nobody needs reminding that the 39-year-old Sachin Tendulkar is surely only a season or two from retirement.
The India side that Sourav Ganguly's resolute captaincy brought to life at the start of the Millennium turned into a rare beast, a tiger capable of showing its claws both at home and away. An absolutely key member of his nucleus of players was of course VVS Laxman. Very, very special? More like very vital selection.
Ultimately, two poor consecutive away series persuaded the player to bring a halt to his career at 37. Last year, against a very fine English bowling attack at the peak of its powers, he had come unstuck - the footwork leaden, and so starkly different from the fluid movement we had come to expect. Then a raw, but well-drilled Australian bowling cortege with little to lose continued to show Laxman in a brutally mortal light.
