Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Dwayne Bravo who is currently recovering from an injury heaped praise on his teammate Ambati Rayudu for playing a brilliant knock against Rajasthan Royals which ensured the three-time champions registered an emphatic victory. Ambati Rayudu has lacked the flow in this tournament so far and has been far from his usual best.
However, he played an important knock for his franchise yesterday when CSK were tottering at 24/4 while chasing a target of 151 in the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur. The veteran batsman took his time at the start and slowly built on his start to score 47 balls 57. In the process he also shared a 95 runs stand with skipper MS Dhoni which helped CSK claw their way back into the game.
During his impressive knock of 57, Ambati Rayudu struck a couple of fours and 3 sixes. He was dismissed while attempting to up the tempo during the 18th over. Dwayne Bravo praised him for his brilliant knock and hailed him for being one of the few players in the world who can play according to the situation perfectly.
“Over the years, that’s his [Rayudu’s] strong point. One of the few players in the world that play the situations very, very well,” Bravo said while speaking with Rayudu in a video which was made viral on CSK’s social media handles.
Bravo was also of the opinion that Ambati Rayudu should be the No 4 for India in the ICC World Cup 2019.
“This innings is very special in the context of the game, batting with the captain. Obviously, Team India will need someone like you for the World Cup, batting at No. 4. That too in England, you need a proper, proper batsman,” said Bravo to Rayudu.
It was Ambati Rayudu’s exception stint in the 2018 IPL which paved way for a national comeback. He scored a whopping 602 runs and was the leading run scorer for the Chennai Super Kings. Rayudu started off as an opener even this year. However, Faf du Plessis’ inclusion meant he had to come down the batting order to accommodate the South African skipper.