VVS Laxman Recalls A Moment When MS Dhoni Drove Team Bus In 2008

May 20, 2022 at 6:03 PM

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VVS Laxman Recalls A Moment When MS Dhoni Drove Team Bus In 2008

VVS Laxman, the former Indian batsman recalls memories shared with former Indian captain MS Dhoni, who used to be cool and showed patience and calmness to make tough decisions earning the nickname ‘captain cool’. He was cool outside the field too as VVS Laxman recalled two weird moments from MS Dhoni’s career which he witnessed in the latest episode of Star Sports’ Cricket Connected chat show.

MS Dhoni captained the Indian team from 2007 to 2016 in white-ball limited-overs and from 2008 to 2014 in tests. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup besides winning the 2011 50 overs World Cup. India also won the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups and the 2013 Champions Trophy. MS Dhoni has scored 10,773  runs in 350 ODIs at a staggering average of 50.53 and is an effective finisher in white-ball cricket besides being one of the best captains and wicket-keepers. He is the only captain in history to lift all three ICC trophies.

MS Dhoni (Image Credit: Twitter)
MS Dhoni (Image Credit: Twitter)

VVS Laxman Recalls When MS Dhoni Loudly Announced He Was About To Retire From Tests After Scoring Maiden Ton

VVS Laxman recalls the 2006 Test against Pakistan in Faisalabad in which MS Dhoni scored his maiden test ton after which MS Dhoni jokingly told teammates that he was going to retire from tests. MS Dhoni said that he did not want anything more from Test cricket after scoring the century which left his teammates shocked.

“I still remember him coming back into the dressing room (after his maiden Test ton, versus Pakistan in Faisalabad in 2006) and loudly saying ‘I am going to announce my retirement – MS Dhoni, mai hundred maara Test cricket mein, bas yaar [I, MS Dhoni, have hit a century in Test cricket that’s it!],” Laxman said.

MS Dhoni retired from Test cricket in 2014.© AFP
MS Dhoni retired from Test cricket in 2014.© AFP

MS Dhoni, however, went on to play 90 Tests captaining 60 out of them and winning 27 tests becoming India’s most successful captain ahead of predecessor Sourav Ganguly. He retired from tests in 2014 to give the likes of Wriddhiman Saha more chances but finally retired from the international arena on Independence Day in 2020.

“I don’t want anything more from Test cricket!’ And we were shocked and surprised to hear that. But that’s what MS Dhoni always was,” he said.

VVS Laxman represented India from 1996 to 2012 and became a commentator after retirement. Although he played his last ODI in 2006, he played the longest format till 2012 scoring 8781 runs in 134 Tests at an average of 45.5. He is one of the few players to have appeared in more than 100 Test matches without appearing in the World Cup.

VVS Laxman Recalls When MS Dhoni Drove Team Bus During 2008

VVS Laxman further recalls the fact that MS Dhoni drove the team bus from stadium to hotel during the 2008 test series against Australia. MS Dhoni asked the team bus driver to sit behind as he drove the bus to leave teammates awestruck. He became the captain as Anil Kumble retired two matches before in Delhi.

“He was the captain of the Indian team because Anil [Kumble] announced his retirement two matches before in Delhi (in 2008). And MS Dhoni asked the team bus driver to just go and sit behind, and he drove the team bus from the ground to the hotel in Nagpur, and we were all awestruck. The captain of the Indian team, driving the team bus!”

VVS Laxman. (File Photo: IANS)
VVS Laxman. (File Photo: IANS)

“That’s how he used to enjoy his life. For him, being a cricketer was doing everything on the cricket field, but outside the field, everything was normal,” Laxman said.

Fans will miss MS Dhoni when India plays but will see him in the yellow jersey when he plays as a captain for Chennai Super Kings in the forthcoming Indian Premier League in UAE in 2020.

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