'Inspirational' MS Dhoni is still a matchwinner for India: KL Rahul

There is no denying the fact that MS Dhoni is at the fag end of his career but opener K L Rahul said the former skipper is still a matchwinner for India and continues to be an inspiration in the dressing room Promoted to the no4 position Dhoni made an unbeaten 39 off 22 deliveries before affecting four dismissals behind the stumps to help India record a massive 93run win over Sri Lanka in the first T20 International last night Dhoni thus became the player with most dismissal in the shortest format of the game With 201 dismissals in 272 matches the former captain has become the second wicketkeeper after Kamran Akmal 207 in 211 matches to complete 200 dismissals or more in Twenty20 InternationalsIndias K L Rahul in action during the 1st T20 cricket match against Sri Lanka at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Wednesday PicPTII see him Dhoni as motivated in the dressing room as I always have Hes somebody we look up to hes a match winner and he will always be one Rahul said at the postmatch news conference last night He is in great shape and he almost killed me as soon as he came into bat he added with a smile referring to a brutalshot by Dhoni to get off the mark yesterday After Rahul left the job unfinished getting out for 61 Dhoni played the finishers role to perfection with a 22ball39 not out with four boundaries and a six to lift India to 180 for 3 The target was way too many for Sri Lanka as they slumped to their sixth consecutive T20 defeat in their 100th appearance in the shortest format of the gameI dont know what form you are talking about but every time I switch on the TV or play with him in the dressing room he always seems to get runs Rahul said strongly backing Dhoni Besides his good show with the bat Dhoni also accounted for two catches and two stumpings to surpass South African great AB de Villiers in the record for most dismissals in T20Is In his last outing at the Barabati Stadium here an ODI against England in January this year Dhoni had smashed a 122 ball 134 in Indias mammoth 381 for six en route to a 15run victory The last time he was here he got a massive hundred Hes been contributing really well in every game Rahul said about his senior teammate Making a return after being dropped in the ODI series Rahul topscored for India to grab the opportunity in the absence of regular opener Shikhar Dhawan Every innings is important With the the kind of competition in the team whatever opportunity you get you need to go out there and make it count the 25yearold said Boasting of a century in all formats of international cricket Rahul said it took him a while to realise he needed to stay true to his game to be successful It took me a long time to realise that I need to stay true to my game Ive been successful when I have kept things simple playing ricketing shots that Im blessed with or I am good at playing he said It did take me a long time but once I realised that I knew with my game I can still be successful in T20Is Every player needs that one or two innings to get the confidence in whatever format to realise that hes good enough to be successful in whatever conditions or at whatever levelOnce I got that I tried harder and wanted to be more consistent Thats the key for a player I try to keep things simple and Im very happy that it came off today Rahul added Rahul was cleaned up by Thisara Perera who deceived him with a slower one and the Indian batsman attributed it to a wrong shot selection It was not premeditated We had to step up it was 15th over I was the set batsman I had to accelerate and take some chances Unfortunately it was a wrong shot that did not come off he said Maybe the next time I play the shot it goes for a six It was the last half of the innings so I had to take some risks sometime it comes off Rahul addedCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go