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Rayudu wants to be the yo-yo man for India

Dubai - The 32-year-old had missed out on the limited-overs segment of India's tour of the UK

As the race slowly picks up pace for the middle order slots for next year's World Cup, Ambati Rayudu is hoping to put a period of frustration behind him and make his case for selection in England.
The 32-year-old had missed out on the limited-overs segment of India's tour of the UK because he failed the yo-yo test.
But having now passed the test, mandatory requirement for selection in the Indian team, Rayudu is looking to the Asia Cup to express himself.
"Of course, it was frustrating to miss out on the England tour but I'm happy that I could come back and give the test and come and play this Asia Cup," Rayudu said on the sidelines of India's training session at the ICC Cricket Academy.
He is in competition with Karnataka's Manish Pandey and Maharashtra's Kedhar Jadhav as India sort out their middle-order issues but Rayudu isn't thinking about it too much.
"To be very honest, I have not really thought about any competition or anything. It is just an opportunity to go out there and express myself," he said.
Rayudu may be on the other side of 30 but he felt that age was just a mere number and it is fitness and form that counts in the end.
"I don't think there was a period of frustration as such. After 2016, I was injured for a year. This IPL I played well. I don't think age really matters as long as you are really fit," said Rayudu.
Rayudu was the fourth highest run-getter in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with 602 runs, behind Sunrisers Hyderabad's Kane Williamson, Delhi Daredevils' RIshabh Pant and King's XI Punjab's KL Rahul.
Turning out for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rayudu scored three half-centuries and a hundred that came against the Sunrisers.
Later, having turned out for India 'A,' Rayudu has had scores of an unbeaten 62 against Australia, 48 against India 'B,' 11 and 66 against South Africa 'A.'
Rayudu admitted that regular captain Virat Kohli will be sorely missed but felt the calming presence of MS Dhoni, his skipper at CSK, will help. The squad at the Asia Cup will be captained by Rohit Sharma.
"Obviously, it is a big miss and it is a big loss because he (Virat Kohli) has not been able to participate in the tournament. But I think we still have a good enough team to go out there and perform well," he said.
"He (MS Dhoni) has always been our captain and he has always been our go-to man for everybody in the team. He has helped a lot in terms of how I have recovered," added Rayudu.