Badrinath, who was selected for the last three one-dayers against Australia, says the challenge now lies in carving a place for himself in the Indian middle order.
NAGPUR: Tamil Nadu cricket captain Subramaniam Badrinath, who was selected for the last three one-dayers against Australia, says the challenge now lies in carving a place for himself in the Indian middle order.
"The real challenge for me will be to get into the eleven. That's what I am here for. There is stiff competition in the middle order and I have to make my way into it," said Badrinath, who has been a consistent performer at the domestic level.
He was selected for the last three one-dayers against Australia after opener Gautam Gambhir got injured at the nets.
"It has been a long wait for me. But I wasn't actually expecting the call because the squad was already selected for series. It was only a change of fortune that I found a place in the side," Badrinath told on Sunday.
"I knew my performance would get noticed but I never new it would take so long. I have been performing consistently with India A side leave aside my performance with Tamil Nadu," said the 27-year-old Badrinath, who got the call while he was representing Rest of India against Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai in the Irani Trophy.
Badrinath has been the main pillar of Tamil Nadu batting for the last two seasons, and also the captain for the last season. He was pitchforked into national arena in 2005-06, when he was second highest scorer with 636 runs from seven matches at an average of almost 80. He missed the top position by 36 runs to Mumbai's Amol Muzumdar, who played one match more.
The last season wasn't as good for Badrinath but he still managed 436 runs at an average of almost 50. Earlier this year he came close to selection, but did not quite make the cut but responded with some brilliant performance for India A, against Zimbabwe and Kenya.
He said Sachin Tendulkar has been his role model. "It is a great experience to play with someone, who has been your childhood hero," he said.
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