Doherty preparing for role to curb 'destructive' Dhoni in last two ODIs against India

Australian spinner Xavier Doherty is reportedly preparing himself for his role to curb Indian captain MS Dhoni's destructive batting abilities.

The left-arm spinner, who has compiled an impressive record against India's renowned power hitter, has bowled 107 consecutive deliveries to Dhoni before conceding a boundary, dating back to their first encounter in February last year.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, with Mitchell Johnson looked at as Australia's weapon against the middle order, stopping Dhoni is one of the biggest factors in wrapping up a series victory in game six in Nagpur on Wednesday.

Although Doherty has bowled 53 dot balls to Dhoni despite failing to cash in with scalps, his round of success ended when the Indian skipper thrashed a four and a six off consecutive balls off him in Mohali, although Doherty laughed off the statistics, saying that they can lie sometimes.

Hoping to get Dhoni's wicket at some stage in the next two games, Doherty also said that he believes that his role is to try and tie down whoever is batting in the middle of the innings and stack as many dots up as he can, adding that bowling to Dhoni is a great challenge as the Indian batsman is one of the real power hitters in world cricket.