There comes a stage in every sportsperson's career when he has to find a way to break the coating of familiarity around him to reach the next level. Many have failed in that endeavour, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni is making that transition period look a smooth one.

He started his career as a downright stroke maker. The Jharkhand player has shown immense maturity in recent months. The wicketkeeper-batsman has proved that he can bat in any position. In the first one-dayer against Bangladesh in Dhaka a fortnight ago, team management asked Dhoni to bat at number three.

Admittedly, Bangladesh do not carry the same firepower as some other attacks in world cricket, but on their day they can upset any applecart. Well, it was Bangladesh's day and they had reduced India to 144 for five, chasing 250 for a win. The situation seemed beyond the reach of India, but Dhoni never for a moment thought so.

Mature innings
In the company of Dinesh Kaarthick, Dhoni steered India to safe shores with the kind of maturity that one does not normally expect from a big hitter. His unbeaten 91 contained just seven fours and many of them were hit towards the end of his innings when an acceleration in scoring was needed.

It showed that Dhoni has transformed from a compulsive stroke-maker, who does not mind flirting with danger irrespective of the match situation, to a matured team player. Dhoni, on that day, had also braved cramps en route to his match-winning knock and it radiated his strong will to win at any cost.

"This is a team sport, so it is important to play according to the team's need and not according to the preferences of a particular individual. I am happy to play wherever I am told to, whether it is lower down or if I am promoted up the order. Whatever opportunity I get I will try to prove myself," Dhoni explained.

But is he finding it difficult to discard his natural game and play in a more sedate way? "No. I don't think so. If you look at it that way, everything is a bit difficult. You are playing for the team so you have to adjust according to the situation of the game. If the situation demands that you play slowly with caution then you got to do that. If I am successful or was successful in doing this then it becomes quite easy. If you do it once, it does not matter what the conditions are, what the situation is and ultimately if the team wins, it does not matter whether play fast or slow."

His good performance in the one-day series — 127 runs from two matches — earned him the man of the series award after a while. Dhoni was understandably elated with it.

"It is after a long time that I am getting the man of the series award and even man of the match award. The last time I got it was against Sri Lanka and it has been more than a year now. So, I am very happy. The conditions and situations are also different. I am batting lower down the order and it's really hard if you are facing 30-40 balls and so you don't really expect to score 60 or 70 runs.

‘Happy’
“So I was really happy with whatever opportunities I was getting, irrespective of the amount of runs that I am scoring. I was really happy with it because I was playing for the team. But this time, I got an opportunity and I am really glad I proved myself," he said.

Dhoni's journey to fame started just over two years ago in Bangladesh and the explosive batsman said it was an added motivation for him to do well on the current tour.

"You really don't have to motivate yourself because you are playing for the country. The only aim you have is to win. That is the real motivation and you don't have to think of anything else.   But I wanted to do well in Bangladesh. I made my debut here two years ago and I got run out off the very first ball I faced. So, obviously I wanted to do something in this series to really prove myself. I am really happy that I was able to fulfil my goal," Dhoni said.

He said the playing conditions in Bangladesh have not changed much since he visited the country last time.
"Well, I did not find much change in the conditions. These were more in favour of the Bangladesh bowlers, especially the spinners when I came here last time, but the wickets were flatter then,” he said.
“Now, they have three left-arm spinners and as the game progresses, the wickets will slow down a bit and it becomes difficult for the batsmen to score, particularly to rotate the strike. So in that sense there was a bit of difference, but not much," he said.

Shastri pleased
Ravi Shastri, cricket manager for the Bangladesh tour and the owner of a sharp cricketing mind, too had expressed happiness with the progress Dhoni has made in recent times.

"These young guys are very mature and they want to win matches for the country. They believe that they can win matches from any situation. It is a heartening factor to see the aggressive attitude of the youngsters. Dhoni had displayed a lot of controlled aggression in the one-day series and with a packed schedule ahead of the team, his development has come at the right time," he said.

With India set to face some the biggest names in the world cricket, it is important from a team's point of view that Dhoni fires with the bat. If his recent form can be taken as an indication, it is unlikely that Dhoni will disappoint either.