AMBATI RAYUDU: AMBA

Personal Life

Ambati Rayudu is a former Indian cricketer from Hyderabad. He was born on 23 September 1985 in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. His father, Sambasiva Rao, worked at the archives department in Andhra Pradesh. In an interview, Ambati Rayudu said that his father was his biggest inspiration to take up cricket as a career and it was he who took the initiative and put him into a coaching camp when he was in third grade. His father also took him to the cricket academy of former Hyderabad cricketer Vijay Paul in 1992. His father was so dedicated that he used to ferry him around on his scooter to the various matches he played and his cricket camp. His father used to watch him practice day-in and day-out. Ambati Rayudu completed school from Bhavan's Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Sainikpuri. His mother, Vijaya Lakshmi, is a housewife, and she also supported him in cricket in every way she could. Chennupalli Vidya is Ambati Rayudu’s wife and they got married on 14th February 2009. According to current estimates, Ambati Rayudu’s net worth is INR 24 Crore.

Ambati Rayudu’s retirement news

Ambati Rayudu wrote this statement announcing his retirement from cricket "Respected sir, I would like to bring to your kind notice that I have come to decide to step away from the sport and retire from all forms and levels of the game." Rayudu’s announcement raised a lot of eyebrows. There were speculations that he took this step after he was snubbed by the Indian Team management, which preferred Mayank Aggarwal as a replacement for an injured Vijay Shankar in the World Cup squad. He was a tried and tested player and was on standby for the World Cup, but even after Shikhar Dhawan and Shankar’s injuries, he failed to secure a spot for himself in the team.

Ambati Rayudu Domestic Career

At the age of 16, Ambati Rayudu stroked the ball fluently with incredible ease at the National Cricket Academy in 2001. Pundits predicted him to be the next big thing in Indian cricket, but he couldn’t become a regular in the side. He continued to work hard and made his case for selection over and over again. Ambati was finally given his due when he was appointed the Indian Under-19 team captain and led the team into the semi-finals of the World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004. Consistency dodged him at the domestic level despite the obvious talent and his attitude problems further magnified things.

Ambati was one of the first players from Baroda to join the Indian Cricket League when it came calling in 2007. Ambati was also awed by the opportunity to play alongside foreign players. When the ICL was dissolved, he accepted BCCI's amnesty offer in 2009 and was picked by Mumbai to play in their IPL side. Even playing as a middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper for Mumbai, Ambati was the main cog in the Mumbai franchise, who have won the tournament thrice. Eventually, after ten years, Ambati got picked by the Chennai franchise for the 2018 IPL. When all this was going on, Ambati got a few opportunities to play in national colours, although most of the time it happened when the regulars were being rested. Nevertheless, Ambati tried to make the most of the chances that he earned.

Ambati Rayudu stats: Achievements

Ambati Rayudu International Career

The general perception among cricket experts is that Ambati Rayudu was unlucky in his international career. But he had good numbers to show in ODIs, even though his strike-rate wasn't that high. He made his international debut in July 2013, in an ODI against Zimbabwe. Ambati averaged 19.33 in the tri-series against Australia and England and was then selected in India's 15-member squad for the 2015 Cricket World Cup in which India reached the semi-finals. He did not get a chance to play in any of the matches in the tournament. Still, his journey didn't just end here; he played two ODIs on the Bangladesh tour in June 2015 and averaged 22. In the subsequent tour of Zimbabwe, Ambati scored an unbeaten 124 in the first ODI at Harare and won the man of the match award. He followed it up with 41 in the next match before getting injured that ruled him out of the tour. India went on to win the series 3–0, and Ambati was adjudged man of the series. The 2018-19 season proved to be a roller-coaster for him, where he went from being India's designated no.4 in ODIs to being left out of the squad itself. A few Indian players got injured, but Ambati was ignored in favour of the likes of Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal. This forced Ambati to announce retirement from all forms of international cricket (2 July 2019). He also had a disastrous 2019 IPL, but the management's style of backing players meant that he got retained for the 2020 season.

IPL Career

Ambati Rayudu’s IPL journey started in 2011. The talented right-handed batsman was bought by Mumbai Indians when all the squads got a makeover owing to mandatory auctions. And with his talent, he quickly became a prolific run-scorer for the team. With his outstanding tally of 281 runs at a S/R of 145, he remained not out on five occasions. He consistently scored above or around the 250 run mark in almost all the seasons, except in 2017. After that, Chennai Super Kings brought him and Ambati Rayudu’s CSK journey commenced. In 2018, all men-in-yellow proved to be his most fruitful year yet as he made 602 runs and scored his maiden century in the league.

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