Indian captain and run-machine Virat Kohli has been rested for the Asia Cup with Rohit Sharma given the responsibility of leading the team. Batsman Ambati Rayudu admitted that Kohli will be a “big miss and loss to the team” but feels that there is enough quality in the side to still do well and win. Meanwhile, Rayudu also took the opportunity to speak about former captain MS Dhoni’s influence on the team.
“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 (Dhoni) has been India’s captain and always been the go-to man for everybody in the team,” Rayudu said at a media conference on Saturday. “He (Dhoni) has helped me a lot in terms of how I recovered this season.”
“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,” he said.
India will not have even a day’s rest for their match against arch-rivals Pakistan. Just a day after taking on Hong Kong, India will clash against Sarfraz Ahmed’s team on September 19.
“I don’t think it will be a disadvantage. It will be definitely tough and I’m sure we will do best possible things to recover and go out fresh to play the next game.”
