Home is where your heart is, and his - at the moment - seems to be in England and not India, certainly not Chennai.
Even if Dhoni were to read newspapers, he would find that the English media is busy singing paeans to his team's present form and the combination. Nobody seems bothered about what is "happening back home".
The last two months of captaining Chennai Super Kings might have put tremendous pressure on Dhoni, but that's not just because of the spot-fixing scandal that erupted. It's also because as captain of a leading franchise, he knew how the West Indians dominated the Indian T20 league, especially the enigmatic Chris Gayle. He doesn't have to read a newspaper to know that.
"The Gayle factor will always be there. He is one of those individuals that have a big impact on the game. If you don't get batsmen like Chris Gayle out early, most likely he'll take you out of the game," says the Indian skipper.
So, it is right at the top of the West Indian batting order that India's troubles are set if they don't get their man early. "Our fast bowlers will have a fair chance in that they'll have two new balls to get him out. Overcast conditions may help them get a bit of help from the wicket," he says, suggesting that plans are in place to get the big Jamaican out early.
Dhoni says staying "busy in practice sessions, team activity, being in the present and not thinking about things that aren't really under (our) control" is helping the team cope up with all the pressure.
On Monday, when he walked into the Oval, the first thing Dhoni did was take a look at the wicket, the one that was used in the last game here between West Indies and Pakistan. "It's a used wicket and the spinners may get a bit more turn compared to the last game," he said, dropping the only hint that India may go into the match with an unchanged side.
He may not have a choice, because in his present state of mind - unaffected by the outsider's opinion, as he says - the combination used in Cardiff is best suited for London too. Nobody asked him about the possibility of playing four seamers in Tuesday's game, but here's what he had to say: "You'll have to wait when it comes to the combination because you may say, okay, overcast conditions, let's play with four seamers, but talking about the stats, four seamers, the only stats we have got is we lose the game and the captain gets banned, so these are the two things that come out of playing four fast bowlers."
Either way, expect Dhoni to depend on his batsmen.
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