MS Dhoni looking to get back to his old technique on his home ground

Two days before he flies out to Dhaka for the ODI series, MS Dhoni turned back the clock by turning up for a surprise practice session at the National Stadium here.

This was the turf where he honed his batting wares under coach MP Singh before becoming a household name. Singh was there on Saturday morning too, helping Dhoni make a few adjustments to rediscover the flourish in his strokeplay. Now that he has retired from Tests, Dhoni is seeking to undo some changes he had made to firm up his technique for the longer format. MP Singh, while mentioning that Dhoni seemed more relaxed after having quit the five-day game, told TOI: "He said he had changed his stance and technique for Test cricket. Now that he doesn't have to think about the format, he wants to get back to his previous technique.

"He had widened his stance and started to keep his bat be tween the feet. He has now decided to revert to his earlier stance in a bid to bring back the booming backlift. He demonstrated it to me and asked if it resembled his original stance," the coach said.

Obviously, he has the low and slow tracks of Bangladesh -and the barrage of spinners he is likely to face -in mind. "He was hitting them hard and clean, like he used to do in his younger days. Don't be surprised if you see an attacking Dhoni in action in Bangladesh," Singh said. "I met him a few times in the last few years. Now he seems very relaxed and mentally strong."

The day didn't end with Dhoni hammering the spinners. He talked to junior players and women cricketers, and there was even a discussion about his batting position - specifically, if there was a chance for Dhoni to come up the order. "We discussed if he could come up the order. He said he will deliberate if somehow batting at No.4 can work out for him. He looks fit enough to carry on for some more time now," the coach said.