“I really wanted to open the innings for Chennai. Before this season, I did talk to the owners and the team management and I did tell them that if there was any chance to open, I am willing to put my hand up and take the opportunity to do so,” said Anirudha in his post-match comments.
Having started on a brisk note, the 23-year-old slowed down a bit towards the end. “No, to be honest I wasn’t,” he candidly admitted when asked if he felt in control of his innings.
“Initially I thought I was very much in control but towards the end, as the wicket got slower, I also got slow… Probably, I should have got 10 to 15 runs more.”
While terming the Chennai strip a bit tricky, the right-hander refused to dub it unsuitable for T20 cricket. “Initially, I thought the wicket played very well, but towards the middle overs, I realised it was a bit two-paced and we knew that any target between 150 and 160 would be a good target. If you stay calm and watch the ball, you can surely do well on this wicket,” he reasoned.
Having begun the season on a promising note, Anirudha said he wasn’t looking too far ahead. “I am not really looking at the future,” he noted. “I want to enjoy my cricket and I want to enjoy this IPL season. I am just getting older and bound to get little more mature. I am on the right side of the track.”
The son of national selection panel chairman K Srikkanth, Anirudha has been trying to be his own man for a while now. This performance, coming as it did at the start of the IPL, should go a long way towards helping the young man carve his own identity in Indian cricket.
