5 possible reasons behind MS Dhoni's struggles with the bat lately

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, arguably the best finisher of all time in limited overs cricket doesn't seem to be at his normal best for quite some time now. His resurgence earlier in this year's IPL was refreshing to watch for the fans, whether it was the effect of captaincy or batting up the order, Dhoni was at his dominating best in the entire season.

Recently, the former Indian captain admitted that age must be affecting his game. Batting down the order was like quicksand situation for him: The more he flutters, the deeper he goes.

Earlier, as a captain of the Indian team, he had publicly expressed his desire to bat up the order. Being the most experienced finisher in the team, batting up the order would give him enough time to build his innings and finish off games.

With less than 12 months left for the World Cup, the indications from the team management suggests that Dhoni is a big part of their plans. There is no substitute for experience, especially when it comes to playing and achieving success in big tournaments.

At present, there is no one better equipped than Dhoni to help Virat Kohli handle the expectations and pressure of a big tournament and eventually come good. So, it is understandable why the team management is whole-heartedly backing Dhoni to come good.

The positive thing is that his wicket-keeping is still holding up and in terms of fitness he is still one of the fittest players in the team. But, Dhoni needs to closely examine his batting approach, his theory of always taking it deep in the innings doesn't seem to be working for him now.

In a long international career where the opposition is constantly on a run to find the weakness in a player's game which they can exploit, only those who keep on reinventing themselves throughout their journey usually find the maximum success.

Now, let us further dissect his batting, and try to find out some possible reasons behind his struggles with the bat in his hand.

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#1 Fear of failure

Dhoni has been on a downward spiral with the bat

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni first burst onto the international scene in 2004, he was a rare commodity in Indian cricket. His ability to hit sixes almost straight away after coming to the crease and his fearless approach captured the imagination of every cricket lover in the country.

As time went by, the more he played, the more he sobered up. When he started, he used to be a man who would trust his instincts a lot but gradually he became someone who is controlled by his brain.

When a person is good at something and he has done that successfully over a long period of time, it also raises the expectations of all the people around him, which can put an added pressure on the individual. The same might be the case with Dhoni at present.

Now, Dhoni is found emphasizing more on percentage cricket. He refrains from taking away risks from the onset and waits for the bowlers to commit error. These traits started had creeping in his captaincy as well. He had become a very defensive captain towards the fag end of his captaincy career.

He would sit and wait for things to happen rather than trying to make things happen. The fear of failing seems to be the biggest reason behind his struggles with the bat.

#2 Lack of intent

Dhoni needs to show some intent while batting

"Our intention creates our reality" - Dr. Wayne Dyre.

The lack of intent generates from the fear of getting out. It seems as if he is putting too much price on his wicket which is hampering his natural game.

Recently, it has been observed that whenever he comes out to bat, his approach while batting puts a great deal of pressure on the man batting at the other end, that usually results in fall of a wicket.

Many people have defended him in the recent times saying: "So what if he failed, everyone does". Yes, it's a truth in any form of sport. But, Dhoni needs to introspect that whether his approach is reaping any rewards for the team or not.

He needs to play with intent and try to rediscover his old touch such that the team is benefited in the long run.

#3 Diminishing Powers

Dhoni's power game is being missed

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not a young man anymore, and, with the age catching up, the challenges for a professional sportsmen increases. The person's reflexes becomes slower, the eyes starts to go as well.

Of late, especially against the spinners, his ability to rotate strike has reduced considerably. And because he doesn't look to play the big shots right from the start, it becomes very important for him to at least keep the scoreboard ticking. But, he has been struggling to do it as well.

Now, he constantly needs a batsmen on the other end to keep on scoring quickly to make up for his slow strike rate. He is still a good bet if the team requires less than 6 runs per over and there is a top order batsmen playing alongside him. But, his single-handedly match winning capabilities is up for debate.

#4 Premeditated batting

Off late, Dhoni has been seen trying too many premeditated shots

Sometimes, it is important for a batsmen to premeditate what the bowler would dish out to him, or what shots he would play. At the same time, it is also very important that, one must have confidence on his instincts as well.

Off late, one can easily make out that Dhoni makes up his mind on how he is going play a delivery even before the ball has left the bowler's hand. A lot of times, he defends a poor delivery and tries to attack a good delivery bowled by the bowler. More often that not, it has been the cause of his dismissals. He preempts too much nowadays, which is not yielding the desired results.

#5 Oppositions challenging his off side game

Opposition captains are challenging Dhoni's off side game

Dhoni's approach when he comes out to bat is not flexible, the opposition captain knows how he will go about his business. He is usually a slow starter in the beginning and if set, flourishes in the later part of the innings. His inability to hit the ball through the off side is well documented and because of which, he usually struggles against the spinners who get the ball to turn away from him.

Against the quick bowlers, it feels as if, the only boundary option he has, is in the situation of bowler bowling a short ball where he can bring hook or pull shot into effect. Making use of his off side shortcomings, the pacers have started bowling wide yorkers to him such that his run scoring opportunities are cut down.

The opposition have their plans sorted out. If Dhoni wants to replicate his earlier success, then he has to be flexible in his approach. He needs to keep on surprising the opposition by doing things that they don't expect him to do.