3 Indians who have pretty much booked their places in the World Cup squad after the ODI series against New Zealand
India defeated New Zealand by 35 runs in the fifth and final ODI at Wellington. It was a remarkable comeback from Team India after they were precariously placed at 18 for 4 in the 10th over.
Ambati Rayudu (90) and Vijay Shankar (45) added 98 runs for the fifth wicket before Vijay Shankar was unfortunately run-out. Rayudu added 74 runs for the sixth wicket with Kedar Jadhav (34) while Hardik Pandya gave the innings the final thrust by smacking 45 off 22 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes.
In the end, a target of 253 was too much for New Zealand to chase as they fell short by 35 runs. For India, Chahal took 3 wickets while Shami and Pandya took 2 apiece. With this win, India has won the series by a margin of 4-1.
More than the win, this series has provided solutions for some of the ailing problems for Team India ahead of the World Cup. 3 Indian players have come up trumps in the series to pretty much book their spot in the World Cup squad.
#3 Ambati Rayudu
Ambati Rayudu came into the New Zealand series with his place in doubt for the World Cup. The performances of MS Dhoni in the Australian series had prompted the team management to look at Dhoni as an option for the no. 4 spot in the batting line-up. However, Rayudu got his opportunity from the very first match of the series.
Rayudu didn't have much to do in the first ODI at Napier where India was chasing only 158. But he ensured that he remained not out in that match while in the two matches at Mount Maunganui, he made 47 and 40 not out.
Rayudu failed to open his account at Hamilton where the entire team failed miserably with the bat. In the last ODI at Wellington, he walked into bat in the sixth over of the innings with the Indian score on 12 for 2.
He then saw Shubman Gill and MS Dhoni depart at the other end. He was stuck on 1 off 20 balls but never threw his wicket away in-spite of much frustration and then he put on a crucial 98-run partnership with Vijay Shankar to bring some respectability to the Indian total.
From 14 off 48 balls, Rayudu scored his next 76 runs off 65 balls. He should have been the first batsman from either side to score a hundred in the series but was unlucky to miss out on a hundred as he was dismissed for 90.
In the New Zealand series, Rayudu made 190 runs in 3 completed innings at an average of 63. With this superlative performance, Rayudu has pretty much booked his spot for the World Cup.