Ambati Rayudu should be picked for India West Indies tour

Tags: IPL T20 2011, Mumbai Indians, India, Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu, India tour of West Indies 2011

Published on: May 10, 2011

Ambati Rayudu, who has caught the eye with his flamboyant batting for Mumbai Indians in the on-going IPL, will surely have his eyes on the selection meeting that is scheduled to meet on Friday

Ambati Rayudu, who has caught the eye with his flamboyant batting for Mumbai Indians in the on-going IPL, will surely have his eyes on the selection meeting that is scheduled to meet on Friday to pick the team for the upcoming tour to the West Indies.

Even though the BCCI has denied reports that senior Indian players will be rested for the ODI series in the Caribbean, there is every chance that young players could be given the opportunity to earn themselves an India cap. And clearly Rayudu is one of the front-runners.

The right-handed batsman, who joined Mumbai in 2010 after canceling his contract with the Indian Cricket League, was key to the side's run to the final in the previous season and is in superb form this season.

Rayudu has scored 349 runs in 10 matches at an average of 38.77 that includes four fifties. In a team that has the likes of Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds and Kieron Pollard, Rayudu has stood tall and has made the best of every opportunity that has come his way.

Coming one down, he has taken away the pressure away from Sachin Tendulkar and has scored runs at a steady pace. His batting not only includes big hits, but he has again and again displayed the ability to rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard ticking.

For someone who was considered a prodigy, Rayudu's career has been marked with many highs and lows. Tendulkar has himself admitted that the first time he heard about Rayudu was way back in 2002. It has taken eight years, but Sachin finally has the opportunity to use the talented batsman in the best interests of Mumbai.

As a batsman, Rayudu has a compact technique and countless strokes up his sleeve. In addition he is a fine part-time wicketkeeper too. However, off-the-field controversies while playing for Hyderabad, differences with the coach, lack of consistency thereafter and eventually the ICL shift is what has hurt his career the most.

But watching him play, his Mumbai teammate Harbhajan Singh says that Rayudu could easily make it to Team India’s Test and ODI middle order.

His talents will be only be fully utilised if he goes on to play for India some day and with brilliant performances in IPL-4 he has made a clear statement of his intentions to the selectors.

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