Asia Cup 2018: MS Dhoni gears up for Pakistan challenge

4000 kilometres away from Karachi, where he played his first Asia Cup game (and scored a century against Hong Kong) ten years ago, MS Dhoni is back to sharpening his batting skills for another edition of the biennial tournament, this time in the United Arab Emirates.

The Indian team is without the rested Virat Kohli, and while Rohit Sharma is the designated captain, Dhoni's role as the senior statesman cannot be undermined. In the absence of coach Ravi Shastri, who landed late in Dubai, Dhoni was at the helm of affairs recently, heading Team India's net session at the ICC Academy.

And now, Dhoni the batsman has been fine-tuning his skills ahead of the all-important clash against Pakistan.

In a video posted by the BCCI, the wicket-keeper batsman was seen practising the pull stroke, most likely to combat the Pakistani pacers.

Dhoni was seen playing rising deliveries off both the front and back foot, even charging down the track to short deliveries and hitting them to the leg side.

While Dhoni has been criticized for his waning 'finisher' skills in the last couple of years, the 37-year-old still averages more than 45 in ODIs since the 2015 World Cup has been India's fourth-highest run-getter since then.

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, under whom Dhoni made his debut, in a column for Gulf News, said that the Asia Cup provides the wicketkeeper with the platform to fire again as a batsman.

"It will be an important series for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It seemed he lost his way in the ODIs in England and it will be important for him to show the selectors that he still has it in him to keep the scoreboard moving at a good pace. There’s been a lot of talk about him getting stuck in ODI cricket and it will be important for him to reignite his hitting skills," he was quoted as saying.

India's first game of the tournament is against Hong Kong in Dubai.

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