Dhoni gets into smashing form before World Cup

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni warmed up for the World Cup 2011, beginning in two days’ time with a whirlwind hundred against New Zealand in a warm-up game at the M A Chidambaram stadium on Wednesday.

Dhoni’s assault carried India to 360 for five, while New Zealand were bundled out for 243 in 50 overs.There was more to Dhoni’s century on the day as it brought forth the marauder in him, dormant for over two years now. The Jharkhand batsman walked into bat when the match was 29.1 overs old.

Deliberately slow
On numerous such occasions in the recent past, Dhoni adopted a deliberate careful approach, leaving the centre stage to other hitters like Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh.

He started in a slow fashion making just 22 off 26 balls with just one boundary when the 40th over began. But how we were all mistaken!

Soon, the Chennai crowd roared to life as ‘Captain Cool’ slipped into over-drive effortlessly and the next 86 runs came off a mere 38 balls. Dhoni swelled his tally of fours to 11 besides smashing five sixes. Stunning to say the least!

There were those archetypal ‘helicopter shots’, whip/slash past the point and that straight punch past the long-off fielder, perhaps learned from the streets of his home town.

Brazen show
It was a brazen show of audacity that gave Dhoni a permanent place in the hearts of fans nearly seven years ago. New Zealand had no answer to Dhoni’s raw power and ability to find gaps as they found 11 men on the park insufficient to contain him. There was an over that particularly revealed Dhoni’s return to familiar ways as he smashed five consecutive fours of Jacob Oram in the 42nd over.

Dhoni could not have selected a better time to return to his old ways as India cantered to a mammoth score of 360. So, welcome back Dhoni the Dasher!