Ambati Rayudu has been reported for a suspect action after the first ODI against Australia in Sydney. He had bowled just the 2 overs during the first innings of Australia. His action was deemed to be illegal by the on-field umpires. The action seemed to have a bend of more than 15 degrees of the elbow which is the permissible limit.
Now, Rayudu will have to undergo a test within 14 days for his action. However, he can continue bowling in international cricket until the results of the test are out. The 33-year-old went for 13 runs in his 2 overs and served as a part-time spinner. The off-spinner gave away just 3 runs in the first over. But Usman Khawaja smashed a couple of boundaries in the next which meant that he wasn’t called-up to bowl again.
Ambati Rayudu chipped in as a part-time option
The primary role of Rayudu is to bat at No.4 as the Indian team has trusted him for that slot until the ODI World Cup. But the Indian captain Virat Kohli had to turn to Rayudu in the first ODI because at that stage, Mohammed Shami was off the field for a while. However, Shami returned later to finish his full quota of overs.
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In the SCG ODI, India went in with 5 regular bowlers. They didn’t have the services of Hardik Pandya who was sent back before the ODI series for his inappropriate behavior on the talk show Koffee with Karan. Additionally, Kedar Jadhav wasn’t picked in the XI. Jadhav has bowled some handy overs in the past with his round-arm action.
But as the playing XI didn’t have a proper 6th bowling option, Ambati Rayudu was the obvious choice. It will be interesting to see whether Jadhav returns to the line-up for the 2nd ODI to provide an extra cushion with the ball.
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