Kohli has been learning a lot from Dhoni: Ambati Rayudu

Mirpur Despite the demoralising defeats against Sri Lanka and Pakistan India middle order batsman Ambati Rayudu put his weight behind standinskipper Virat Kohli and his teammates saying that the captain as well as the team are putting in as much effort as they couldHe has been learning a lot from Dhoni bhai He has been very proactive and did a fantastic job against Pakistan Although we have been losing we are putting in a lot of effort Rayudu told reporters on the eve of their last roundrobin tie against Afghanistan hereAmbati Rayudu Pic AFPWe have been learning a lot as you have seen the games have been extremely close We are putting heart into it and that is all we can do as cricketers he added If Bangladesh can pull off an upset win over the defending champions Pakistan today India would have a slight chance of making the finals by registering a bonus point victory over AfghanistanWe would like to go out there tomorrow and win with a bonus point and see what happens We are just bothered to go and win with a bonus point We will analyse it after todays match They Afghanistan are a very good bowling side as we have seen in the competition We just need to keep our head down and make sure we get runs Rayudu said Rayudu struck 58 off 62 balls as he along with Ravindra Jadeja 52 not out off 49 balls took India to 245 for eight against PakistanDefending the modest target India almost had the game in hands before Shahid Afridi smashed two sixes off Ravichandran Ashwins bowling in the final over to win it by onewicket We are doing the best we can in whatever capacity It is just we lost the game I would say by a metre more than anything else Its unfortunate we are ending up on the losing side insisted RayuduOn their backtoback failures he said If you look at the pattern of the games I think all the teams have struggled in the middle overs because the wicket is slower and the ball standing a little bit There were wickets falling a bit so we needed to consolidate and at the end of the innings the scores were not 350 but 250 But the matches have gone to last ball It is not actually we are not scoring or anything It is same with all the teams explained RayuduHe said the pitches were undoubtedly slow but as professionals they should not be complaining We were not expecting a battingfriendly pitch Whatever the nature of wicket we are here to play as professionals and we cant complain about itExpected to fill into the big shoes of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina Rayudu said he would take confidence from his halfcentury he scores in a pressure game like IndiaPakistanI think Im learning in every game The last game has given me a lot of confidence because I played under a lot of pressure We lost wickets and IndiaPakistan is always played under pressure Im happy I could keep my head down and we could put a total on the board that we almost defended he pointed outOn Indian slow strike rate up the order Rayudu said It is always difficult at the top of the order because most of the fielders are inside not even for singles In the middle overs we make sure we get a lot of singles because scoring boundaries has become difficult because of the wicket That way we are learningAsked about the middle order continuing on a listless show after their series defeats in South Africa and New Zealand Rayudu said Im not too sure about New Zealand but I can talk about Asia Cup We have been fairly doing well I suppose the scores we have got on the board are not less by any means As you know Im sure the games have gone down to last two overs even last ball It is just unfortunate that we are ending up as losing side Im sure we are learning We will be a much better side in the coming days and tournamentsRayudu who will be replaced by Suresh Raina in the World Twenty20 to be held later this month wished India luck for the upcoming tournament Im not in the T20 team I am sure I hope and I pray that we win the tournament