IPL 2018 | Always rated Rayudu as somebody who plays both pacers and spinners well, says MS Dhoni
Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni has heaped praise on the in-form Ambati Rayudu claiming that he has always held Rayudu in high-regard as someone who can play well against pacers and spinners alike. Rayudu’s form has earned him a recall to the Indian team for their series against England.
Chennai Super Kings were already written off by some critics even before the 2018 season of the IPL began due to the average squad age being close to 30 years. But after 12 games into the league, MS Dhoni-led CSK have already secured a place in the play-off stage of the tournament courtesy of some consistent performers in the team.
One of the leading stars this year was new recruit Ambati Rayudu who was purchased for Rs.2.20 crores from rivals Mumbai Indians at the IPL auction held earlier this year. Rayudu has amassed 535 runs in 12 matches at an average of 48.63 and a strike-rate of 152.85. His recent outing came against table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad where he managed to score a career best of 100* from 62 balls to seal a playoff spot for his side.
Dhoni was all praise for the batsman as he claimed that he always held Rayudu in high regard when it came to playing against fast-bowlers and spinners, even before the IPL began.
“Even before IPL started, I had to make space for him because I’ve always rated him as somebody who can play the fast bowlers and the spinners very well.
“Most of the teams look to exploit the openers with spin bowling, but he’s somebody who doesn’t look like a big hitter but clears the field every time he plays a big shot. If Kedar (Jadhav) would have been fit, he’s someone who would have batted at No. 4, so to get that space for Rayudu would have been difficult. So my plan was to make him open, Kedar bats at No. 4 or No. 5 as he’s needed, and according to that our batting order becomes very strong,” Dhoni said reported WisdenIndia.
Rayudu’s brilliant knocks have captivated the attention of the national team selectors as he was included in the ODI squad that will travel to England in July. Rayudu was more than pleased in the manner of the way things have turned out for him in the past few months.
“It feels great. I’m really happy to be amongst the runs this season and I’m enjoying batting,” he said, adding that opening the batting alongside Watson had also helped his game. “The way he bats, it makes the bowling look easy. He puts bowlers under a lot of pressure, so it’s helping my game as well, opening with him. We are backing ourselves and communicating really well in the middle,” Rayudu said.
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