Introducing the new Dhoni

8216;If you asked me a year ago whether I8217;d bat 150 balls for half the runs, I8217;d have ignored it8217;

The pressure had been growing on Mahendra Singh Dhoni to come up with something special at Lord8217;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 8212;when he felt the need 8212; 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.

8220;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 wasn8217;t anything specific that was troubling me or that I was struggling about but I needed to concentrate on what lay ahead,8221; says Dhoni.

His Lord8217;s innings, the most patient one of his career todate, is the result of perseverance, he says. 8220;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 wasn8217;t just me,8221; he says.

On Monday, the last day of the Lord8217;s Test match, he did just that, retaining the strike as much as possible, resisting the temptation of going for Michael Vaughan8217;s off-spinners. And most importantly, keeping Sreesanth and RP Singh 8212; his partners at death 8212; away from the pressure of facing the ball.

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8220;That situation has helped me learn a lot about the game. It is not that I didn8217;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 didn8217;t need to. That8217;s the approach I adopted when I was batting with the No 9 and 10 batsmen,8221; says Dhoni.

Even as he said he was happy to contribute when the team needed it the most, Dhoni admitted that his 8220;keeping hasn8217;t been up to the mark8221; though that he has been 8220;working hard8221; on it 8212; 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.