India vs New Zealand | Mohinder Amarnath credits Rayudu and the lower middle order for victory

Ambati Rayudu has emerged as Team India’s solution to the No.4 position and the experienced batsman was always underrated and overlooked throughout his career as he was not flamboyant. He had been in and out of the playing eleven with wavering form but soon he flabbergasted everyone with his performance in the IPL 2018 when he was promoted as an opener by MS Dhoni in CSK. 

The Andhra-based batsman had once again proved that “Form is temporary but Class is permanent.” in his crucial knock of 90 from 113 balls against the Black Caps recently. Amarnath praised Rayudu for applying well under difficult circumstances and for using his experience to execution. 

“Despite losing four wickets cheaply, they applied themselves well in the final ODI. Ambati Rayudu played a magnificent innings and showed his experience, his performance helping India to post a decent total in the end. He did the right thing by just occupying the crease which is the correct way to play in a 50-over game when you know there are a lot of balls to come," Amarnath wrote in his column for ToI.

The veteran all-rounder did not fail to notice the efforts of the lower middle order in the game as they all played a supporting role with Rayudu to help India achieve a competitive total. He had also mentioned that he was reminded of the 1983 World Cup match against Zimbabwe where the team was in a similar situation. 

"Rayudu was well supported by the batsmen at the other end, especially Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya  who contributed with good partnerships. It reminded me of an innings in the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe when we were in a similar situation: the top five went cheaply before Kapil Dev took control with a super 175 and we went on to win by 31 runs,” Amarnath recalled.

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