Ambati Rayudu

When a 16-year old Ambati Rayudu stroked the ball fluently with incredible ease at the National Cricket Academy in 2001, there was a talk among the pundits that he would be the next big thing in Indian cricket. However, life isn't always rosy for the gifted as people think and Rayudu found that out the hard way, partly due to his own faults as well.Rayudu was the captain of the Indian Under-19 team and led them to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004. There was the ideal opportunity for him to take his game to the next level but it wasn't to be. At the domestic level, consistency eluded him despite the obvious talent and his attitude problems further compounded things.

Having started out for Andhra in the Ranji Trophy, he switched to Hyderabad and later Baroda as well. The constant changing of teams did however mean that he wasn't in harmony with the team managements at certain points. The runs did keep coming though, and just when it seemed like he might finally turn things around, another roadblock arrived. Rayudu was one of the first players to join the Indian Cricket League when it came calling in 2007. He was awed by the opportunity to play alongside foreign players and make a name in front of the television audiences. This however caused a clash with the BCCI and the active players' careers in the league were hindered due to that.

Eventually, when the ICL was dissolved, Rayudu accepted BCCI's amnesty offer in 2009 and was picked up by Mumbai to play in their IPL side soon after. Playing as a middle-order batsman and part-time wicket-keeper for the Mumbai franchise, Rayudu was a vital cog of the Mumbai franchise who have won the tournament thrice. After a 10-year old association, in a fresh auction, he got picked by Chennai franchise for the 2018-20 phase of the IPL. In between all this, Rayudu did get a few opportunities in national colors although it has mostly been when the big boys have been rested. Nevertheless, he did grab his chances most of the times.

Some might say that Rayudu was unlucky in his international career. Statistically, he had good numbers in ODIs although the strike-rate wasn't that high - a stark contrast considering the unflappable strokemaker that he was when he first burst into the scene. A roller-coaster 2018-19 season, where he went from being India's designated no.4 in ODIs to being left out of the squad itself, forced Rayudu to retire from international cricket. He also endured a disastrous 2019 IPL but the management's style of backing players meant that he got retained for the 2020 season.

After creating a stir by tweeting that the 2022 IPL season would be his last, Rayudu then deleted the tweet after being spoken to by CSK's team management. Earlier in 2022 he was bought by CSK for INR 6.75 Crore.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan