Introducing the new Dhoni

‘If you asked me a year ago whether I’d bat 150 balls for half the runs, I’d have ignored it’

The pressure had been growing on Mahendra Singh Dhoni to come up with something special at Lord’s. His wicket-keeping had been slipping, the runs were not coming, there was Yuvraj Singh waiting for that No 7 slot, there was Dinesh Kaarthick ready with the gloves.

And all this while, Dhoni had simply kept the tension carefully bottled up deep inside, keeping his thoughts to himself or discussing them —when he felt the need — with senior team members, including skipper Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

Now, after the match-saving 76 that saw India hanging on by a single wicket till the rains saved them, Dhoni says the World Cup defeat changed it all. The ignominy of returning after two successive losses that had sent his team crashing out, his personal failure, and the ire of irritated, effigy-burning fans, had forced Dhoni to see things in a different light.

He says he had decided then to shun everything that he felt would distract him, even ignoring what fans or experts had to say, just concentrating on what he needed to do about his game.

“I kept spending as much time possible. There was a time when I felt I needed a bit of space to recollect my thoughts. There wasn’t anything specific that was troubling me or that I was struggling about but I needed to concentrate on what lay ahead,” says Dhoni.

His Lord’s innings, the most patient one of his career todate, is the result of perseverance, he says. “If you asked me a year ago whether I would play 150 balls and score half of the runs from it, try and remain unbeaten, not a single shot in the air, I would have ignored the conversation. That wasn’t just me,” he says.

On Monday, the last day of the Lord’s Test match, he did just that, retaining the strike as much as possible, resisting the temptation of going for Michael Vaughan’s off-spinners. And most importantly, keeping Sreesanth and RP Singh — his partners at death — away from the pressure of facing the ball.

Story continues below this ad

“That situation has helped me learn a lot about the game. It is not that I didn’t commit mistakes in that match. When I was batting with Zaheer (Khan) or even (Anil) Kumble, I was looking for singles, which I later realised I didn’t need to. That’s the approach I adopted when I was batting with the No 9 and 10 batsmen,” says Dhoni.

Even as he said he was happy to contribute when the team needed it the most, Dhoni admitted that his “keeping hasn’t been up to the mark” though that he has been “working hard” on it — he has sought advice from former India stumper Farookh Engineer. Even now, with tons of confidence back in the bag, Dhoni insists he is still learning.