MS Dhoni retires: VVS Laxman reveals how Jharkhand cricketer earned respect from the whole world

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New Delhi, Aug 19: Former India cricketer-turned-commentator VVS Laxman attributed MS Dhoni's humble personality helped the former India cricketer win over millions of hearts and garner the respect of his colleagues and opponents alike.

Dhoni - who is the only captain to have won all the ICC trophies, announced his retirement from international cricket on Saturday (August 15), more than a year after he last played for India -- the lost World Cup semifinal against New Zealand.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Laxman shed light on how the Jharkhand cricketer's personality ensured he earned respect from the whole world, "Love comes from the cricketing fans for your cricketing achievements, but respect comes by the way you have conducted yourself, by the way you carried yourself. And I always felt that captaining the Indian team is probably the toughest challenge for anyone, you know because there are so much of expectations from everyone around the world. All the Indians around the world want the Indian team to do well, so there's a lot of responsibility on the Indian team captain. But MS Dhoni has always been emotionally detached from the results."

Laxman, the former India middle-order batsman from Hyderabad, hailed Dhoni for showing the world how to be the true ambassador for your country with his conduct in the public.

"The way he has inspired millions of Indians, not only the sports fans but millions of Indians on how to conduct and how to become an ambassador of your country, how to carry yourself in the public domain. And that's why he's so respected. When you see the social media posts, it's not only from the former players or the cricketing fans, it's from all the Indians, whether you take film stars, socialites, esteemed businessmen, politicians. Around the world, all the former cricketers, all the cricketing fraternity have thanked MS Dhoni for his contribution not to Indian cricket, but world cricket," Laxman added further.

There were speculations regarding Dhoni's participation in this year's T20 World Cup in Australia, which was postponed to 2022 due to the global health crisis. The 39-year-old will now be seen in action during the IPL 2020 which is slated to be held in the UAE.