Video: MS Dhoni tries his hand at off-spin during training
After a successful outing in the first two ODIs against the Australian cricket team, the Men in Blue are looking to make it 3-0 and seal the five-match series at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
During the training session in the stadium on September 23, former Indian captain MS Dhoni was seen bowling in the nets to the Indian batsmen.
While he has bowled quite a bit in the past in the nets, and in few international matches as well, he has always stuck to medium pace.
However, he switched things around this time and was seen trying his hand out at spin bowling.
The batsman who was at the crease was Manish Pandey, who is currently struggling with the bat with scores of 0 and 3 in the first two ODIs.
Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav practised along with Pandey and were seen bowling their left-arm spin to the 28-year-old.
Dhoni decided to join them as well and bowled three deliveries. While the first two were off-spin, he tried his hand out at wrist spin in the third delivery.
The 2nd ODI which was held in Kolkata provided a lot of assistance to both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, with the latter picking up a hat-trick.
However, the pitch in Indore is completely different and is a batsman's paradise. The Men in Blue have their task cut out as Australia have put on a respectable total of 293. Interestingly, in the match, Dhoni effected his 100th stumping for India, and 750th in total.
The 35-year-old has showcased his skills with the ball in the limited overs format in the past and has an international wicket to his name too.
His first wicket was against a weakened West Indies side back in 2009 and his victim was Travis Dowlin, who dragged the ball onto the stumps. This incident occurred back in the ICC Champions Trophy which was held in South Africa. India ended up winning the match with ease after bowling the Windies out for 129.
Dhoni almost had a Test wicket to his name as well, against England in 2011, when he dismissed Kevin Pietersen. However, the decision was overturned after Pietersen reviewed it.
A similar incident occurred in the semifinals of the 2013 Champions Trophy as well when Dhoni had initially dismissed Mahela Jayawardene only to see the decision be overturned.
With Australia's recent struggles against spin, we could very well see Dhoni try his hand out against Steve Smith's men. However, this could possibly occur only if India win the series.