Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu

Personal information
Full name	Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu
Born	(1985-09-23) 23 September 1985 Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm off spin
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2001/02–2009/10	Hyderabad
2005/06	Andhra
2010/11–present	Baroda
2007/08	Hyderabad Heroes
2010–present	Mumbai Indians
Career statistics
Competition FC List A T20 Matches 63 45 50 Runs scored 3754 1335 1128 Batting average 42.17 32.56 24.52 100s/50s 9/19 1/11 0/8 Top score 210 117 75* Balls bowled 660 216 – Wickets 9 8 – Bowling average 47.88 25.25 – 5 wickets in innings 0 0 – 10 wickets in match 0 n/a n/a Best bowling 4/43 4/45 – Catches/stumpings 48/– 19/– 26/3
Source: Cricinfo, 10 October 2011

Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu (Telugu: అంబటి రాయుడు; born 23 September 1985 in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh), is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed middle order batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler.

During 2005–2007, he was touted as a potential member of the Indian national team due to his excellent batting skills. He was banned from Indian cricket due to his signing with the rebel ICL in 2007. Subsequently, Rayudu left the ICL and, following an amnesty offer from BCCI, returned to Indian domestic cricket.

On 18 July 2012 he has been included in 30 probables for the World T20 tournament to be played in Sri Lanka in September 2012 but failed to make it to the final squad. He got his first national call for the T20 series against England in December 2012 as a replacement for the injured Manoj Tiwary.

Personal life

Rayudu completed his schooling from Bhavan's Sri Rama Krishna Vidyalaya. He is married to Chennupalli Vidya and lives in Hyderabad.

Domestic career

Rayudu made his debut in domestic cricket in the 2001/02 Ranji Trophy season for Hyderabad. After Feuds with HCA in 2005, he left the team to play for Andhra State Ranji Team for one year. Later after a disappointing season, he went back to play for Hyderabad next season. He ran into trouble with the son of Shivlal Yadav, resulting in an ugly spat where Rayudu was attacked by Arjun Yadav with stumps after the latter was dismissed.

This was not the anticipated start for the lad from Andhra Pradesh who was once considered as the next generation Sachin Tendulkar for his performance in the England U-19 tour.

In 2010, Rayudu decided to play for Baroda after his former team Hyderabad got relegated to the Plate Division of Ranji Trophy. Rayudu continued to impress with the bat as he scored 566 runs in 9 matches with an average of 56.60 including a double hundred and three half centuries.

National call-up

The likes of Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan and VRV Singh, who played under Rayudu's captaincy at the Under-19 level, went on to represent the national senior team while Rayudu was constantly ignored by the selectors. This was mainly due to him being a part of the now-defunct 'rebel' Indian Cricket League. However, in December 2012, the newly-formed selection panel picked Rayudu as the replacement player for the injured Manoj Tiwary for the T20 series against England but did not get a game that series. It is notable that the Chairman of this selection panel, Sandeep Patil, was also previously associated with the ICL.

Indian Cricket League (2007–2009)

Rayudu joined ICL, a rebel group to Indian Domestic Cricket, on 16 August 2007 with six other players from Hyderabad Cricket Association. BCCI was shocked over this surprising event and had geared up to convene on 21 August 2007. After his association with the ICL, he was dropped from the state team, but he continued to play in the ICL for Hyderabad Heroes.

Indian Premier League (2010–present)

Rayudu was with the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2010 as a middle order batsmen/part-time wicketkeeper. His performance won many positive reviews from the critics and he was touted as a big name to be watched in the next IPL season. Being classified as an uncapped player, Rayudu was not a part of the IPL 2011 auction. Immediately after the auction, Siddhartha Mallya, Team Director of Royal Challengers Bangalore and son of RCB's owner Vijay Mallya flew to Vadodara and was seen meeting Rayudu during the Ranji Trophy final between Rajasthan and Baroda. The exact nature of the talks was unknown, but it was speculated that Rayudu rejected the offer. Mumbai Indians, who gave Rayudu a second chance after coming back from the ICL, bagged him for the 2011 season of IPL. He had another impressive season that year, scoring 395 runs in 16 matches, including 4 half-centuries. He scored a six of the last ball of the last league match against Kolkata Knight Riders to win the game on 22 May 2011, when a boundary was required. James Franklin was crucial in setting up Rayudu's last ball heroics by scoring 4 boundaries in that over and a single off of the 5th ball to give Rayudu the strike. The bowler on the receiving end of this was Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Season by season at IPL

IPL Batting Statistics of Ambati Rayudu
Year	Team	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50	4s	6s
2010	Mumbai Indians	14	356	55*	27.38	144.71	0	2	34	13
2011		16	395	63*	28.21	112.85	0	4	44	9
2012		15	333	81*	37.00	132.14	0	2	21	14
2010–2012 Total		45	1084	81*	30.11	127.83	0	8	99	36

External links

• Player profile: Ambati Rayudu from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Ambati Rayudu from CricketArchive