MS Dhoni kicked off the year 2019 way better than what everyone was expecting after a sorrowful last year. The 37-year-old is eyeing to stretch his career to World Cup 2019 somehow but his bat in 2018 didn't seem to be very supportive.

But things have got a lot better now. The stress might have eased a bit on Dhoni after being awarded as the Man of the Series against Australia because of three back-to-back fifties out which two were a match-winning.

A source close to team management revealed the areas Dhoni worked on to find his touch back. “He has made the modification to suit his areas of strength and to counter the areas in which bowlers have been targeting him,” said a source, as per Hindustan Times report.

Dhoni also uses a different bat than others. The bat has got round shape in the toe. “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,” he said.

BAS (Beat All Sports) who were associated with Dhoni earlier, said the Indian players use the bat as per 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,” says BAS partner Ashwini Kohli.

Dhoni is currently the only batsman to experiment with the circular bat toes. 

(With Hindustan Times Inputs)