But it has been quite a while since the Indian captain has shown his flashy side, and with every passing match — even in this slam-bang T20 format — his new tendency to play controlled knocks rather than pulverising the bowling attack is becoming slightly worrying for a country getting ready to defend the World T20 title in two months’ time. Team India have enjoyed a long period of success under Dhoni’s leadership, and if every success comes at a price, then experts are now starting to wonder if this run has come at the cost of Dhoni’s desire to beat the stuffing out of the ball.

After he took over the Indian captaincy, Dhoni slowly started to mellow as a batsman, choosing to play more responsibly, content with a holding role in the line-up. Even though he has sometimes come up the batting order, he is happy to let his other illustrious hitters in the team take centre-stage.

“If I go in at number three to hit the ball, then someone else has to come at number six. As a captain, I have to see if the other guy is capable of doing the job at number six. I know I can hit the ball well, but you have to see the overall strength of the team. As a skipper, I am happy to play in a position that helps the team the most,” he says.

Another chance wasted

Thursday’s match against the Delhi Daredevils was another opportunity for the Chennai skipper to punish the bowlers as his team set out to chase 190 for victory. But it was Suresh Raina who walked in at number three to maintain the tempo of the innings. “One has to look at the best balance of the team and the overall strength. Raina is one of the best strikers of the ball, and he’s in good form. We also have other good all-rounders who can really have a go at the bowling,” Dhoni said later.

At the Team India level, that role is filled by Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Raina, with Dhoni happy to weave his innings around them. But even those batsmen concede that Dhoni at his destructive best is perhaps unmatched by anyone. Dhoni, the first millionaire of the IPL, may not be the tournament’s highest-paid player any more, but in terms of Indian cricket he is these days considered priceless.

So, will the Dhoni of old please stand up? “Who knows, maybe you will see him again, maybe not,” Dhoni says. “You can come to the nets to see me bat. I still try and hit a few big shots there.”