Chhattisgarh opener Ayush Pandey’s last knock for Tamil Nadu was a brave ton (117) in which he lost the final of the Buchi Babu tournament against Hyderabad in Dindigul last month.
Against Tamil Nadu on Saturday, he continued the form he showed in the warm-up event by scoring his first first-class century in only his sixth match.
“I got my form there and it gave me a lot of confidence that I could score at senior level because it was my first time starting a season in the Ranji Trophy. I have played a few matches before, but the Buchi Babu tournament gave me confidence that I can do it at this level as well,” Ayush said. “I scored 89 and 52 in the last two games, but this time I wanted to convert to 100,” he added.
When Ayush was asked about his knock and the way he charged at the spinners, he explained: “I didn’t like playing with maidens, so I learned how to win singles and doubles. So I wanted to rotate the strikes and make the score move a little more.”
Related: Ayush Pandey’s maiden century, Chhattisgarh gets off to a strong start against Tamil Nadu
After a quiet start to his Ranji Trophy career with three ducks in the first two matches of 2022-23, Ayush became the third-highest scorer in the CK Nayudu U-23 tournament last year with 835 runs. .
In 2023, Ayush toured England with Mumbai Indians and said that even though he did not score many runs on that tour, he learned a lot from playing in seamer-friendly stadiums.
