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Journalism of Courage
At 92, Ambati Rayudu marched down the track to Suraj Randiv and cleared the long on fence. But before he could get ready to face the next delivery, Virat Kohli walked up to him, urging him to keep calm. The stand-in India captain knows the importance of a big knock, having had to wait for close to nine months before he got one, his 20th, against the West Indies at Dharamsala last month.
The advice worked, Rayudu put his head down and gently prodded the next ball, the last of the over, back to the bowler. He was ready to wait for his first hundred, having done all the hard work, and when it came, a single to Thisara Perera, the smile said it all.
It took nearly a decade for the boy, who was considered a prodigious talent in junior cricket, to finally find his feet. His career has been marked by twists and turns and some wrong ‘uns, which left him chasing shadows, away from the limelight.
A difficult past
There was the time when he took the odd decision to join the unrecognised Indian Cricket League and then there was also the time when he decided to switch states because he wasn’t getting along with his Hyderabad captain. Those were the times when the ‘wonder boy’ left everyone wondering. For the man everybody looked to carry the torch of Hyderabad cricket and follow in VVS Laxman’s footsteps, Rayudu’s decisions must have looked strange.
But the move to Baroda proved lucky and success followed for the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Runs in the 2010 and 2011 IPL seasons again brought him in the reckoning of the national team. And yet the twists in the tale continued. In England, India captain MS Dhoni refused to give him the strike during the chase in the last over. Rayudu let it pass. He was prepared to wait.
On Thursday, when Ajinkya Rahane had got the thick edge behind chasing a wide ball, Kohli decided to send in Rayudu instead of coming out himself. India were 18 for 1 chasing 275 runs set by Sri Lanka at the Motera Stadium.
Rayudu took his time at the crease and with Shikhar Dhawan going steady at the other end, it allowed him to adjust to the conditions. His first 16 runs came off 30 balls but Rayudu knew that he has it in him to pull it back once he settles down.
Rayudu dropped anchor as Dhawan kept finding the odd boundary in each over. India managed to add 91 runs by the end of 20 overs and that was the time when Dhawan decided to cut loose. He slammed a six and two fours in Perera’s third over.
But just as things looked to be in control, Dhawan went for a slog-sweep only to find Ashan Priyanjan at square leg. Before Dhawan left, he had added 122 runs for the first wicket with Rayudu, who would add another 116 with Kohli, guiding India home with six wickets to spare.
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