MS Dhoni has advised Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant to use round-bottom bats to maximize carnage in T20Is: Reports

Former Team India captain MS Dhoni was a mentor for the Men in Blue during last year's T20 World Cup and has been in constant touch with star players like Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant, according to a report from The Times of India (TOI).

This is evident from the fact that both the current Team India stars are now using bats with pronounced curves at the bottom, as suggested by MS Dhoni to aid power-hitting.

Hardik and Pant have Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) as their bat manufacturer, who has been told to produce round-bottom bats to improve their batting in the shortest format.

Paras Anand, the Managing Director (MD) of SG, confirmed this while speaking to TOI:

"It was MS Dhoni who had first started using this kind of bat before the 2019 World Cup. And now these Indian players have started asking for this kind of bat."

Elaborating further on how round-bottom bats help cricketers increase their range of hitting, Anand said:

"The players claim that it helps them access all directions of the ground while shot-making. A bat with a flat bottom prompts a relatively closed stance whereas the round-bottomed bat enables them to have a more open stance that helps them to manoeuvre the bat easily from the word go.

"If one shaves the bottom and makes it round, the bat has a thicker base and has more meat at the bottom."

Rishabh Pant approached MS Dhoni after IPL 2022

Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant faced a lot of stick on social media for his inconsistent IPL 2022 season with the bat. But the youngster has always been keen on improving his game and according to TOI, Pant reached out to MS Dhoni for advice on getting more consistent.

A source was quoted as saying to TOI:

"Dhoni told him to try the round-bottomed bat. He is slowly getting used to it. The curve on his bat is not as pronounced yet. But he can feel some difference."

Pant might not be a sure starter in the playing XI in T20Is, but he could be needed in case of an injury if the Men in Blue make a tactical move to stack up their batting.