VVS Laxman impressed with Ambati Rayudu's reliability and explosiveness

Indian batting great VVS Laxman thinks Ambati Rayudu’s excellent performance after his return has been a massive positive for Team India as he has subsequently ended the search for a reliable No. 4 with the World Cup just around the corner. Since his return to international cricket in September this year, Rayudu has scored a ton and three fifties in 10 innings.

He showed, he is capable of playing big knocks as well as switching gears when needed with good effect, which earned him the trust of skipper Virat Kohli during the recent ODI series against the Windies. Rayudu amassed 217 runs at an average of 72.33 runs per dismissal with an impressive strike-rate of 101.4 in the 5-match series against West Indies, which India won 3-1.

Rayudu’s consistency at No.4

“One of the biggest gains has been the consistency at No. 4 of Ambati Rayudu since his return at the Asia Cup in September,” VVS wrote in his column for The Times of India on Saturday. “The No. 4 position is a pivotal one because more often than not, he will be walking out to join a set batsman. It becomes important to rotate strike from the off so that neither you nor your partner feels the pinch. Rayudu is adept at doing that against the spinners, and at using his feet as well as the depth of the crease to the faster bowlers.”

Injuries have cost Rayudu a lot right from the time he made his debut in 2013. The 33-year-old has played 45 ODIs for India. “His [Rayudu’s] emergence as a dependable, reliable and explosive No. 4 is a massive positive. Even though he hasn’t played a lot of international cricket, he is a very experienced batsman and a huge asset to the side,” Laxman added.

Laxman observed that while India have got rid of the No. 4 headache at least for now, the middle-order hasn’t really been put to test, full credit for that must be given to the top three batsmen.

“The [Indian] think-tank will be mindful that, when the top three haven’t delivered, the middle-order hasn’t yet been able to win a game from a pressure situation all on its own. But it will also be delighted that a fair few questions that lingered before the series have been answered,” he wrote.

~ Written by Nahmat Maeraj

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