Laxman drops Dhoni from party

The differences between Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni and VVS Laxman came out in the open when the latter hosted a dinner for some senior members of the team at his Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad. Khurram Habib reports.

The gloves are off. The differences between Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni and VVS Laxman came out in the open on Tuesday night when the latter hosted a dinner for some senior members of the team at his Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad. Dhoni was not on the guest list.

Laxman, who called it a day recently, had invited Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan.

Asked during a pre-match conference the next day if he had received an invitation, a visibly jolted Dhoni replied with a sharp ‘no’.

Friction between the two was evident when Laxman said during his retirement press conference that Dhoni was difficult to reach, a charge that the skipper admits he is guilty of. “People who know me know that I am hard to get a hold of. I am trying to improve, but it seems I have not really improved,” he said.

Dhoni was uninterested in answering any other questions about his former teammate. Asked why Laxman had decided to retire in such an abrupt manner, choosing not to play against New Zealand despite being selected, Dhoni shot back: “Laxman knows it better.”