MS Dhoni has always been India's go-to-man: Ambati Rayudu

MS Dhoni has been plying his trade for India ever since 2004 and he has grown in stature to carve himself a reputation as an indispensable member of the Indian team. However, the recent times have been much joyful for the Jharkhand-born cricketer and he has been a recipient of brickbats, especially for his indifferent knocks during the limited-overs series against England.

After a break, the 37-year-old is now scheduled to play the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India will play the first match against Hong Kong on September 18 and Dhoni is expected to help India with his truckload of experience at the highest level.

He has helped me a lot

Recently, right-handed batsman Ambati Rayudu said that the players still look up to Dhoni in crisis. The Guntur-born cricketer also expressed his gratitude towards the 37-year-old for his priceless suggestions. In last season’s IPL, Rayudu played under the leadership of the veteran.

“He (Dhoni) has been India’s captain and always been the go-to-man for everybody in the team. He has helped me a lot in how I recovered this season,” Rayudu was quoted as saying in a media conference.

Rayudu also reckons Virat Kohli’s omission from the Asia Cup squad as a massive blow but he doesn’t want to undermine the rest of the lineup by any means. “Obviously he (Virat) is a big miss and loss to the team. However, we still have enough quality in the team to go out and win,” he remarked.

India’s middle-order woes have been a long-lasting conundrum and speaking about his inclusion in the batting slot, Rayudu said: “To be very honest, (I) haven’t thought about it (middle-order) or looked at it as a competition. It’s just an opportunity to express myself and (I) don’t want to put more pressure to my game by thinking about these.”

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