I knew it was coming: Rao

"It's a dream come true," an excited Rao told HT moments after the announcement of the squad. "In fact, you are the first person to congratulate me."

Among the 36 probables attending the preparatory camp in Bangalore, Yalaka Venugopal Rao was among the happiest on Monday. Seven years after making his Ranji Trophy debut, the 23year-old was named in the Indian squad for the tri-series in Sri Lanka.

"It's a dream come true," an excited Rao told HT moments after the announcement of the squad. "In fact, you are the first person to congratulate me."

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Rao, a right-hand middle order batsman and an off-spinner had made a strong case after cracking 91 off 99 balls against an attack including Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh in a benefit match on Sunday. In fact, Rao plundered Zaheer for 17 runs including four boundaries in an over.

"I knew it was coming but wasn't sure when will it come. I had put in so much of hard work for it. This was the moment I was eagerly waiting for."

Rao, who made his debut for Andhra Pradesh in 1998-99 at 17, was a part of the Under-19 World Cup-winning squad in 2000.

"We all realised the pressure of playing at the highest level during the World Cup five years back," he said.

"I was in Australia under the BorderGavaskar scholarship programme when I was asked to join the team. And I capitalised when I got the opportunity."

Though Rao was not sure whether he will get an opportunity, he was looking forward to the big challenge of playing international cricket. "I think I have it in me and I hope to deliver every time I get an opportunity."

Besides being a useful batting allrounder, Rao has displayed his adaptability skills time and again in the domestic circuit. And his track record suggests that he has grabbed every opportunity presented to him with both hands. If the long-haired youngster repeats the same for the Men in Blue, Team India will surely find a specialist at No 7, which they have been looking for a long time.