Chhattisgarh opener Ayush Pandey’s last knock in Tamil Nadu was a valiant ton (117) in a losing cause in the final of the Buchi Babu Tournament against Hyderabad last month in Dindigul.
On Saturday against Tamil Nadu, he carried his form from the preparatory event by slamming his maiden First Class century in only his sixth match.
“I got my form there, which gave me a lot of confidence that I can score at the senior level because it’s the first time I have started the 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,” said Ayush. “I got 89 and 52 in the previous two matches, but this time I wanted to convert into 100,” he added.
When asked about his knock and his approach of charging down to the spinners, Ayush explained it by saying, “I have learnt how I can get singles and doubles because I didn’t like to be stuck playing out maidens. So, I wanted to rotate the strike and get the score more moving.”
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After a quiet start to his Ranji Trophy career, during which he had three ducks in his first two matches in 2022-23, Ayush finished as the third-highest run-getter in the C.K. Nayudu under-23 tournament, scoring 835 runs last year.
In 2023, Ayush also travelled to the U.K. with Mumbai Indians and said he learnt a lot from playing on seamer-friendly pitches, even if he didn’t get many runs on that tour.
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