Former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels that middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu will make it to India’s World Cup squad later this year. After scores of 47 and 40 not out in the second and third ODIs against New Zealand recently the Hyderabad cricketer fell short of a century after being dismissed for 90 in the fifth one-dayer. The experienced right-hander has over the past few months established his credentials in the middle-order and is the first-choice batsman at number 4 for Men in Blue.
“Rayudu played well. He fizzled out in the middle but has played well overall and I think he will go to the WC and he will play in India after this and he will score runs and go to the WC,” the 46-year-old was quoted saying by India TV.
“This is a settled team and the 14-15 core of the team is settled and I hope all these players are fit come the World Cup and this team will be a strong team,” he added.
India begin their World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 5 in Southampton.
Rayudu scored 90 runs off 113 balls to bail out India after a top-order collapse in the 5th ODI against New Zealand. He shared a 98-run stand with Vijay Shankar for the 5th wicket before adding another 74 runs for the 6th wicket with Kedar Jadhav. His gritty innings helped India post a challenging total of 252 runs on the board as the Men in Blue won the game by 35 runs to clinch the series 4-1.
Rayudu is not in India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand and will be next seen in action in the home series against Australia that will be the last series for India ahead of World Cup 2019.
