Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu started off as a player who was believed to be the next star of Indian cricket, but had to face a great struggle to make his pace in the Indian cricket team. Rayudu made his First-Class debut for Hyderabad, at an age of 16 and led the India U-19 team to the 2004 ICC Cricket World Cup where India finished as a semifinalist. However, a prodigy didn’t justify his talent on the world stage and when he was sidelined from the selection for the 2019 World Cup, he became viral on social media for his 3D glasses memes. 

Rayudu’s cricketing career started back in 2001 when the young kid impressed the cricketing pundits with his fluency to smoke the shots along the ground, while his wrist-work was impeccable too. After making his First-Class debut, the youngster played for India A in 2002. Rayudu became the youngest player in the history of the Ranji Trophy to score a double century and a century in the same match. The selector saw the budding talent and selected him for the 2004 Junior Cup. After the U19 WC, he had a disappointing Ranji season, in 2005. It was alleged that the player had differences with the coach, which led to his migration to Andhra Pradesh, in the following season. 

At 21, when Rayudu saw his cricketing career wasn’t heading anywhere, he chose to play in the Indian Cricket League in 2007, which led to Rayudu getting banned by BCCI. Eventually, when the ICL was dissolved, Rayudu accepted BCCI's amnesty offer in 2009. 

In early 2010, he was signed up by Mumbai Indians for IPL where his performance was impressive and hence he was retained by MI for the coming seasons as well. Rayudu played eight successive IPL seasons for the Mumbai-based franchise, where he played in the middle-order to club 2416 runs, including 15 half-centuries at an impressive average and strike rate. In his tenure at MI, he surpassed the tally of 300+ runs on five occasions, which established him as an integral player for the franchise who won three titles between 2010-2017. 

Prior to the 2018 season, he was grabbed by Chennai Superkings. He was again part of a title-winning side and Rayudu opened the innings for CSK to score 602 runs with the highest knock of 100*. Rayudu’s breakthrough season led his path back into the Indian team. He was selected in the squad for the Asia Cup of 2018, Rayudu established himself as India’s number four. 

However, he retired from domestic cricket in November 2018, but then Rayudu saw a dip in form that sidelined him from the selection for the 2019 World Cup. The then national selector MSK Prasad quoted Vijay Shankar’s selection over Rayudu as a 3-dimensional call. Post his omission, Rayudu retired from the international arena in July 2019 but reversed the decision in August that year. 

Now, Rayudu only plays professional cricket in the form of IPL where he represents CSK to solidify their middle-order. 

(As of June 2021)