As Ambati Rayudu worked the ball away to the leg side off Thisara Perera to get his maiden ODI century for India, a wry smile flashed on his face. The smile signified his grit, his hunger to score runs. The hunger which hadn’t faded since he broke into the domestic scene twelve years ago. Just a couple of months ago, a regular spot in the Indian team, despite having tasted success with Mumbai Indians, was looking bleak for him.
Previously on various occasions in his 21-match ODI career, he was forced to sit on the bench. His scores: 27,12, 32, 13 had mediocrity written all over them. Therefore, his scores were undermining his stature and the analysis of his dismissals clearly questioned his temperament. As a result, Rayudu was handpicked for a few games in his 21-match ODI career.
In England, in 2014, he made some good starts (53, 60*, for example), but wasn’t able to convert them to the three-figure mark. Moreover, India’s strategy to field Rohit Sharma along with Dhawan at the top forced the team management to drop him. When the West Indies came, spaces in the Indian middle-order were gradually starting to fill up, as so often happens in Indian sides, and come the 6th of November, when India played their second ODI against Sri Lanka, having thrashed them by 169 runs in the first game, he grabbed the opportunity to stake his place in the team with both hands.
In Sri Lanka’s innings, Rayudu took a brilliant catch at deep mid-wicket to send Mahela Jayawardena early to the pavilion and then latched onto another one, before running out Priyanjan from the deep. This brilliant fielding, as Sri Lanka reached 274-8, was a sign of things to come.
Rayudu went in when India had lost an early wicket and were 18-1. The 29-year old Andhra batsman’s characteristic nonchalance saw him using his feet early on against the spinners. He wheeled to the pitch of the ball many a time to carve out the maximums off his willow. He didn’t stop at that and was a live wire on the field too. He first took a brilliant catch at deep mid-wicket to send Mahela Jayawardena early to the pavilion and then latched onto another one before running out Priyanjan from the deep.
Ambati Rayudu’s classy 121 off 118 gave him his first One Day International century and India victory, as they chased down Sri Lanka’s 274 with six wickets to spare.
Now back with a swagger in Ahmedabad and with the World Cup just around the corner, Ambati Rayudu must be feeling confident for the mega event and it’s up to him not to give it away as opportunities hardly come calling for a second time in cricket.
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