Privilege to have represented country and played alongside Tendulkar, says Venugopal Rao

37-year-old Rao announced his retirement from all forms of the game on Tuesday. In his brief international career, between 2005 and 2006, Rao is happy to have represented the country, played alongside Sachin, and feature in a series against arch-rivals Pakistan. 

"It is a privilege to represent the country. Only some 500-600 people have played for the country and I am one of them, which is a wonderful thing. Happy to have played alongside legends including Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar is my idol. I used to be inspired by him. To share the dressing room with him was a privilege. Playing against Pakistan is always a special thing," Rao told PTI, reported TOI.

Rao featured in just 16 ODIs, making 218 runs for India. Rao reckons he could’ve played longer had he been backed, but gracefully admits that he may not have had the x-factor in his game.

"You can say I could have played for longer but I don't have any regrets. God has been kind to make me an international cricketer. Maybe I did not have the x-factor that time to play more matches. You need support to play for a long time, maybe I was not lucky enough," he said.

The right-hander caught the eye of the selectors and the then coach Greg Chappell when he struck a double century for South Zone against England ‘A’ in 2004. Rao is only the second cricketer after the current chairman of selectors MSK from Andhra Pradesh to have represented the country. Having come from a modest background, to represent the national team was a huge achievement for him. He thanked his family, coaches, state association officials for supporting him.

"Coming from a small town -- Vizag in Andhra -- representing the country is huge. When I started nobody even dreamt about it. Cricket was not so big when I started, now it is a profession. Thanks to my family, the Andhra cricket association, coaches and others I enjoyed the process,” Rao added. 

He played 121 first-class matches, scoring 7,081 runs, which included 17 centuries and 30 fifties. He also played 65 IPL matches for Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad between 2008 and 2014.