Laxman proved why he is called very very special: Dhoni

Sat, Aug 07 10 06:23 PM

T V Sriram Colombo, Aug 7 (PTI) V V S Laxman''s unbeaten century under pressure showed why he is regarded as "very very special", captain Mahendra Singh said today, attributing India''s series-levelling victory against Sri Lanka to a "collective effort". Laxman cracked a fighting unbeaten 103 and anchored the innings brilliantly while Sachin Tendulkar (54) and Suresh Raina (41 not out) gave him the perfect support from the other end as India defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets to level the three-match Test series 1-1. Dhoni said Laxman, who was struggling for runs in the series, always has the habit of coming up with something special when it mattered most for the team. "He (Laxman) proved today why he is called very very special. He always comes up with innings that have a huge bearing on the game. It was very important for him to score runs as the team needed it most to level the series. I think it is a very special innings. Hopefully, he plays plenty more innings like this for us," the jubilant Indian skipper said. "I think the way he batted he paced his innings really well. He was struggling a bit with back spasm but still he wanted to go on without a runner. But after lunch there was a time when he had to go for a runner. I think there was pain and there was pressure at the same time," he said. Dhoni was also full of praise for Tendulkar and Raina, who played a vital role in the victory along with Laxman. "I think Sachin too batted really well and after he got out, Raina came in and supported Laxman. "Raina batted well. In the initial few balls he played a few big shots but after that he calmed himself down and batted sensibly," he said. He said the win was the result of a collective effort and both his batsmen and bowlers did their bit. "If we had lost this series it would have been because of our batting line up not performing really well. If it was a draw series which meant that both the batsmen and the bowlers did decently," Dhoni observed. "I think in the first Test the batsmen could have done much better. I cannot really complain about the bowlers because in all the three Test matches we bowled first on a fresh track where there was not much help for the fast bowlers initially or the spinners. But this was one track where there was a bit of help for the spinners right from the very first day," he said. More PTI TVS SSC MRM

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