Ambati Rayudu scored his maiden hundred in international cricket as India crushed Sri Lanka in the second One-Day International, in Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
Naturally, he was delighted, as this "special"one took a long time to come.
Rayudu, who first played for India 'A' way back in 2003 as an 18-year-old talent lost his way in the middle, joining the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL), before leaving Hyderabad for Andhra and subsequently joining Baroda to play domestic cricket.
"It's a special feeling as it's been a long wait," said Rayudu after the match, adding the team management's confidence in him made it easier for him to showcase his skills at the No. 3 position, which stand-in captain Virat Kohli voluntarily vacated for him.
"I think, more than anything, the confidence given to me by the coach, Virat and Dhonibhai... all the members of the team management telling me, hang in there. I was not actually looking to get a hundred as such, just trying to stay unbeaten and see the team through, and in the process I got to the hundred," said the soft-spoken former India Under-19 captain.
Asked if he would like to bat higher up the order more often, Rayudu was diplomatic.
"I think it's left to the captain; I will stand by whatever decision he takes."
Captain Kohli was impressed how Rayudu grabbed the chance to bat higher up the order.
"It's just giving the guys a bit of belief and confidence from my end, Duncan (Fletcher) and the management as well, to go out there and perform, and the guys have responded beautifully so far," Kohli said.
He felt Rayudu, who has been around in the first-class circuit for a long time, deserved the chance.
"Rayudu was in the India 'A' team 12 years back, and it's all about giving him the opportunity that he deserved. He made full use of that. We are treating every game as the last game of the series. That's the kind of culture we're building in this team."
For Kohli, losing the toss was a 'blessing in disguise' as there was quite a bit of dew later on.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews rued the fact that his team could not post a total in excess of 300.
"The 300 mark makes a lot of difference. We lost our way in the middle and couldn't pull through. These wickets are quite good for the batsmen and you need to score runs in the top four as well," Mathews said.
"We'll try to make it up in the next game, but it was an embarrassing performance. We need to try and get wickets because it's never easy, with their (India's) batting line-up, to contain. We've got to pull out our best to try and see if we can beat the Indians."
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