Dhoni best captain I8217;ve played under: Laxman

8220;He is so calm and composed. He exudes a lot of confidence. It8217;s a great feeling to play under him,8221; he said in an interview on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old right-hander also lauded opener Gautam Gambhir,who was adjudged man-of-the-series in India8217;s Test series win over New Zealand.

8220;Gautam really played well. Especially,in the second innings of Napier Test. Batting for more than 10 hours requires a tremendous effort. It was great. He carved and then paced his innings well and played his natural game. It was a very important knock during that match.

8220;I always call him 8216;run machine8217;. He has the appetite for runs. He was consistently doing well in domestic circuit and it was really pleasing to see him start performing at international level.8221;

Laxman felt in the Delhi duo of Virender Sehwag and Gambhir,India were 8220;lucky to have a great openers who demoralise the opposition bowlers.8221;

The elegant Hyderabadi batsman also gave credit to coach Gary Kirsten and his support staff for creating a good atmosphere in the Team India dressing room.

8220;Also the way Gary Kirsten is coaching,credit should be given to him and the support staff Paddy Upton,Venkatesh Prasad,Robin Singh,all of them have been a great help to all the players,8221; he said.

Laxman,one of the architects of India8217;s historic win in New Zealand,said the epic Kolkata Test of 2001 was the inspiration for the side when it was forced to follow on in the second Test against the Kiwis in Napier.

Laxman said when India was following on after being bowled out for 305 in reply to the Kiwi8217;s 619 in Napier,they recalled the Kolkata Test against Australia and Gambhir went on to score 137 in a marathon 10-hours 43-minute innings.

Laxman himself remained unbeaten on 124 to help India salvage a draw in the match. India8217;s series triumph in New Zealand was the team8217;s first in 41 years.

8220;There8217;s obviously a lot of similarities. We always remember the Kolkata Test in such circumstances. It Eden Test was a historic one that continues to inspire and give confidence whenever you8217;re in trouble,8221; Laxman,who had scored a career best 281 to turn the table on Australia in the Eden Test,said.

The wristy batsman said India 8212; now on the third spot with 118 rating points in the ICC rankings 8212; were close to becoming the number one side in the world.

8220;It was very satisfying for all of us to be a part of history. More importantly,the win gives more confidence now. We are very close to becoming number one in Tests which is our main aim. We are consistently winning Tests abroad,8221; Laxman said.

Laxman said India actually picked up confidence to defeat big teams after their epic 2-1 Test series triumph over Australia,who had won a record 16 Tests on the trot.

8220;It started changing in March 2001 after our historic win in the Eden Test. In fact,that series in totality was a turning point for the Indian cricket. Since then whenever we travel abroad,we have been doing very well.

8220;After that my first overseas tour was Zimbabwe and we won there. We won another Test in the West Indies8230; then in England in 2002. Slowly we started winning abroad. Thereafter,we were all very keen do well abroad.8221;

Laxman,who rose to 15th spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen,said: 8220;I am very pleased to see my performance. I contributed especially in both the innings in Napier. I relish performing under pressure. It was one more good knock. Really glad that I could able to contribute for the team8217;s success it makes one happy.8221;

Another reason for success in New Zealand,Laxman said,was the pre-conditioning camp ahead of the Test series. 8220;It was good that we landed there almost 15 days before the start of Test series. It was a huge help for most of us. How much you practice in Indian conditions,it8217;s difficult to adapt overseas. We got an opportunity to play first class matches there and it really helped us.8221;

With India8217;s next Test series 8212; against Sri Lanka 8212; more than four months away,the Deccan Chargers batsman in the Indian Premier League said he was looking forward to the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament in South Africa.

After IPL II,Laxman will play for English county Lancashire. 8220;My county stint for the next four months will keep me actively involved playing cricket till our next series against Sri Lanka,8221; he signed off.