Call-up a 'dream come true': Badrinath

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath has reacted with glee at his inclusion in the Indian squad for the fifth one-day international against Australia, saying the call-up was a dream come true for him.
    
"Playing for India has been a childhood dream for me and I am delighted that I am close to achieving that now," Badrinath said.
    
The 27-year-old Tamil Nadu cricketer is currently playing for Rest of India against Mumbai in the Irani Trophy match in Rajkot and will join the Indian squad for the fifth match of the ongoing series at Vadodara on October 11.
    
Australia lead the series 2-1.
    
Badrinath has been the mainstay of his state team's batting for the last two seasons and also led the side. He is also an excellent fielder.
    
The right-hander has been on the verge of breaking into the national squad for quite some time and his name has cropped up at several selection meetings.
    
He also came up with a double century against South Africa 'A' in the unofficial Test in Delhi last month.
    
He has been in rich form recently scoring a bagful of runs for India 'A' against Zimbabwe and Kenya.
    
In 56 List A games in his career, Badrinath has scored 1,616 runs at an average of 38.47 and a strike rate of 76.33.
    
He has one hundred and 13 fifties in the 50-over format with a highest score of 120.