Reason behind MS Dhoni coming back in form in 2019

MS Dhoni’s struggles throughout 2018 were clearly visible. The veteran endured one of the worst years of his illustrious career and even his World Cup spot was also being questioned despite the backing from the team management. However, come 2019, Dhoni found his mojo back and slammed three consecutive half-centuries in Australia to win his first Man of the Series award in seven years.

So far this year, Dhoni has amassed 242 runs in six outings and has been dismissed only twice in this period. So what changed suddenly from last year for the former Indian captain? While there is no doubt about his masterful cricketing brain, Dhoni has made a few changes to his bat to suit certain conditions. Well, it has worked wonders for him and at the right time for Team India ahead of the World Cup.

“He has made the modification to suit his areas of strength and to counter the areas in which bowlers have been targeting him,” a source close to the development said while speaking to the Hindustan Times.

What changes did Dhoni make?

“Basically, it is more wood at the bottom and back of the bat. Earlier, it was mainly about the sweet spot. The basic idea is to have more wood behind the ball in your preferred shots. More wood at the bottom will help in elevation and generate more power. When your game is set, bowlers come up with a plan to counter and the batsman has to get a new plan. Or, it could be to play a particular shot better,” the source further added.

MS Dhoni was earlier helped by the bat manufacturing company BAS and its partner Ashwini Kohli analysed the change in his bat saying that it was to suit the conditions. “It differs from wicket to wicket, country to country. In India they use different bats, prefer heavier (bats) because the ball comes slower on the slow wickets; on faster wickets, they prefer lighter blades for better timing. Dhoni’s bat weighs around 1150gms,” Ashwini said.

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