Dhoni reports to Laxman

At Air India, where both cricketers are employed, the skipper holds the post of manager while the Hyderabadi batsman is a DGM

Dhoni reports to Laxman

At Air India, where both cricketers are employed, the skipper holds the post of manager while the Hyderabadi batsman is a DGM

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni might call the shots on the cricket field. But at Air India where he is employed, the flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman reports to fellow teammate VVS Laxman.
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Straight drive: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh are both
managers with Ranchi and Amritsar branches of Air India while VVS Laxman

The stylish Hyderabadi batsman is a Deputy General Manager (DGM) with Air India in Hyderabad while teammates Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh are managers with the Ranchi and Amritsar branches respectively of the national carrier. Interestingly, all three players are in the commercial division of the airline, said Air India officials.

"As per their job profiles, both these players technically report to Laxman as he is senior to them. However, they are posted at different stations," said an official.u00a0

Pay off
While manager level officers get salaries of around one lakh rupees a month, DGM grade officers are paid in the bracket of Rs 1-1.4 lakh.

Laxman, who was conferred the prestigious Padma Shri award on Tuesday,u00a0 had joined erstwhile Indian Airlines on December 17, 1996 as an Assistant Manager in the Commercial Department at Hyderabad.

Air India officials said Laxman was the sixth employee of the airline to receive this prestigious award. "Previous Padma Shri awardees from Air India are cricketers MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh and hockey veterans Mukesh Kumar, Dilip Tirkey and Dhanraj Pillai too have received the honour."

Sources in the airline said that Laxman and Harbhajan, take their work seriously and show great interest in it whenever they manage to come to office. "However, Dhoni, is hardly able to attend duty due to his busy schedule and professional engagements," they said.

'No work, just play'
An Air India official said: "They have got their jobs under the sports quota. The idea of creating sports quota is to support players so that they can play without facing financial problems. We do not want them to work. They are doing a great job for the nation. Laxman was conferred the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2001 for his contribution in the field of cricket. The national carrier has as many as 150 sportsmen and women on its rolls, officials said.

Decorated Air Indias

Padma Shri:u00a0 MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh (cricket); Mukesh Kumar, Dililp Tirkey and Dhanraj Pillay (hockey)
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: Dhanraj Pillay (hockey)
Arjuna award:u00a0 Dilip Tirkey, Mohammed Riaz, Ashish Ballal, AB Subbaiah, Dhanraju00a0 Pillay, Mukeshu00a0 Kumar, Mervyn Fernandes, Jagbir Singh, MP Singh, Zafar Iqbal,u00a0 BP Govinda,u00a0 Ashok Kumar and P Krishnamurthyu00a0 (hockey); VVS Laxman, Harbhajanu00a0 Singh,u00a0 Javagalu00a0 Srinath,u00a0 Anju Jain and Anjum Chopra (cricket); Gaganu00a0 Narang,u00a0 Vivek Singh and Avneet Kaur (shooting); SD Bhavsar, A Shinde and Pankaju00a0 Shirsatu00a0 (kabaddi);u00a0 S Vijayalakshmiu00a0 andu00a0 Taniau00a0 Sachdevu00a0 (chess); A Maria Irudayam (carrom) and Arti Pradhan (swimming)