Aman Rao, the young opener of Hyderabad, delivered a splendid performance at the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which made the news that he would be one of the most popular subjects of the tournament. The right-hander batter also hit a sparkling 200 against Bengal as Hyderabad racked up a tremendous score of 352/ 5 in 50 overs at the Niranjan Shah Stadium at Rajkot.
Aman who was recently auctioned off by Rajasthan Royals in the IPL at 30 lakh ran 200 runs on 154 balls. His batting was full of pure striking and solid shot choice as he entered Bengal with its professional bowling line which consisted of Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar.
The all-time highlight was reached when Aman hit a six with the last ball of the innings to raise his dual hundred. In his knock he made 12 boundaries and cleared the ropes 13 times. This effort is now the highest score made by an individual in List A cricket by a Hyderabadi player and the ninth double hundred in the history of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Hyderabad had lost an early wicket, however, Aman made sure the innings did not lose any pace. He had set himself with captain Tilak Varma, and after a short struggle brought the innings underfoot. He then later included handy alliances with wicketkeeper Pragya Reddy and lower-order batters as the run rate remained high to the end.
So Aman did not lose his control and went on to attack notwithstanding the loss of partners at periodic intervals. The power to control the good bowlers deep into the innings was a highlight of Hyderabad who entered the 350-run mark without any difficulty.
The two centuries of Aman Rao puts him in the list of giants such as Prithvi Shaw, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal who have already performed the same in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. More to the point, the innings makes him a stronger player to consider in the future season of the IPL.
