India vs Windies 2018: Ambati Rayudu's Consistency is a Big Gain For India - VVS Laxman

Former Indian batting legend VVS Laxman reckons the consistency of Ambati Rayudu will provide a big gain for the Indian team. Ambati Rayudu had returned into the ODI side in the Asia Cup. Since then, he has slammed three fifties and a century in his ten innings. Rayudu’s reliability and ability to switch gears when needed has earned him the backing of his captain Virat Kohli in the recently concluded ODI series against the Windies.

However, VVS Laxman who recently turned 44 was not happy with the performance of India in the game at Pune. After that, India won the last two games and also won the series 3-1. They won the fourth game with a massive margin of 224 runs and the final match by nine wickets.

Ambati Rayudu is providing the solution to number four woes.

“Clearly stung by their performance in Pune, India flexed their muscles in the last two matches to clinch their sixth successive ODI series at home. Determined to prove that the Pune defeat was an aberration, they swept the Windies aside in Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram. Their manner and margins of victory totally comprehensive,” VVS Laxman wrote in his column of Times of India.

Furthermore, VVS Laxman praises Rohit Sharma for his excellent knock of 162 runs in the fourth ODI.

He also lauded Virat Kohli for achieving the Man of the Series award. The Indian captain became the fastest batsman to 10,000 ODI runs and also scored three hundred on the trot.

Meanwhile, Laxman is a little bit worried about the middle order batting line up as they couldn’t put some significant effort. Recently Ambati Rayudu fulfilled the number four position by providing some much-needed runs.

“Rohit Sharma lit up the Brabourne Stadium with a brilliant 162 while Virat was brilliant on his way to the Man of the Series award, just rewards for becoming the first Indian to hit three straight hundreds. The think-tank will be mindful that when the top three haven’t delivered. The middle-order hasn’t yet been able to win a game from a pressure situation all on its own. But it will also be delighted that a fair few questions that lingered be before the series have been answered,” VVS Laxman added.

Ambati Rayudu scored 217 runs at a strike-rate of 101.4 while averaging 72.33 during the ODI series. However, he is not apart of the T20Is squad, and India will hope to get something big from him.