Ambati Rayudu gives a steely reminder of what could have been

Ambati Rayudu gives a steely reminder of what could have been

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BCCI

The 2002 English summer was spectacular for India as three Indian cricket teams made the England cricket lovers sit up and applaud the Indians for their majesty. After the failure and shame at the 1999 World Cup, it was a chance to redeem themselves and the Indians did it in some style.

In July, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif put on a show at the Lord’s and showcased what the new India, under the inspiring leadership of Sourav Ganguly, could do in the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal that rocked Indian cricket altogether. In the following month, Mithali Raj, who was a bit of an unknown commodity in Indian cricketing circles, had hit a sublime 214 to rise into the national consciousness and soon carved a niche for herself in the Indian cricketing milieu. 

A little over a week after Mithali’s effort, the Indian batting triumvirate of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly made eye-catching hundreds to bury England under an avalanche of runs before the spinning duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh took over the charge to dismantle the Englishmen for an innings victory. Some time was that!

Almost at the same time, a 16-year-old boy from Guntur took the spotlight upon himself with a display that can still be considered as one of the most outrageous innings by an Indian youngster. India were chasing 303 and had already reduced to 135 for 6 and then the young lad packed a punch. Ambati Rayudu smashed, crushed, and schooled the English colts on his way to a brilliant 177 off just 114 deliveries, with 16 fours and a six.

While Yuvraj Singh and Mithali Raj have gone on to achieve bigger and better things in life, Rayudu gradually receded to the background to become a paradox in the grand cinema called Indian cricket, even though he has a cool average of 50.23 in 34 ODIs, and was a crucial part of three title-winning runs for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

 © BCCI

Looking back at his career, one thing is clearly understood that he was the one responsible for his downfall. After a brilliant start to his first-class career, Rayudu had a very bad fallout with his state board, Hyderabad Cricket Association, and moved on to have a stint with Andhra before returning to Hyderabad again. A stint at the Indian Cricket League in 2007 meant his cricket career was all but over, but fortunately, the BCCI offered an amnesty to the ICL players in 2009 and Rayudu was selected in Mumbai Indians that had the likes of Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shaun Pollock, Ricky Ponting, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, and Shane Bond in the dressing room.

Some good performances in the following years ensured that he made his India debut in 2013 in an ODI series against Zimbabwe and made an unbeaten 63 in his first game. However, like many things with the Hyderabad’s prodigal son, this was also proven to be a false dawn. International cricket can sometimes be a very cruel commodity and it is where the lines between prodigious talents and ready-to-shine cricketers begin to widen. History has been witnessed to myriad tales of Indian colts who came up with a lot of sparks at the start but frittered away as quickly as they arrived. 

Rayudu was, however, not one among them. His first-class career might have failed to take off like the way it should have been - he averaged only 45.56 from 97 first-class games - but he was a champion performer for Mumbai Indians, in the IPL. And when Chennai Super Kings threw their hats into the mix to get his services in the 11th edition of the IPL, they had a palpable sense of enthusiasm.

As the team have already played five matches, Rayudu has almost done the job that was asked. He started the season as a replacement opener for Murali Vijay, who got a knock on the ribs ahead of the tournament, to score an important 22 against Mumbai Indians. A wonderfully-crafted 39 against Kolkata Knight Riders was followed by a spunky 49 at No. 3 against Kings XI Punjab. However, once Suresh Raina returned after a calf injury, he was asked to open again, but this time, he fell cheaply against Rajasthan Royals and was then pushed into the middle order in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

With the wicket behaving like a two-paced one and the team struggling at 50 in 10 overs, the onus was on the duo of Rayudu and Raina to bail the team out of the woods. After a few dabs and nudges against Rashid Khan, Rayudu instantly went on to score 31 runs off 20 balls by the time CSK were 87 for 2 in 13 overs and immediately, lined up Billy Stanlake and took him four fours boundaries in the next over.

While his innings ended in a rather unlikely way - he was run-out while trying to steal a run out of nowhere - again, most things with Rayudu were unlikely. However, the charismatic innings of 79 off just 37 balls will serve as a steely reminder of a career that promised a whole lot more, but has been on a way, no one would have envisioned after reading the U-19 match report in August 2002. He can, however, wish that the ongoing IPL will give him a chance to shine under the sun and will be a new dawn to his cricket career.

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