Ambati Rayudu is celebrating his 39th birthday today i.e. on 23rd September. In domestic cricket, Rayudu has played for Andhra Pradesh as well as Hyderabad, Baroda and Vidarbha. He has played for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in IPL. Rayudu, famous for his anger and fights, has had a very controversial cricketing career. He always remained in the headlines for some reason or the other. Rayudu's anger caused him a lot of damage. That is why Rayudu, who was once counted among India's greatest batsmen, ended his international career in just 6 years. Not only this, during this time his debut was delayed and even after coming into the team, he could not play any Test or World Cup match.
Ambati Rayudu played an unbeaten innings of 177 runs at the age of just 16 years on the England tour in 2002. Due to his innings, India's Under-19 team defeated England badly. This brought Rayudu to the eyes of cricket experts. After this, he created a sensation by scoring a double century and then a century in the same match for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy. Rayudu did not stop here. Under his captaincy, India reached the semi-finals in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup.
After showing so much talent, it was believed that he would make his debut for Team India at a young age. But Rayudu's anger caused him harm. The result was that instead of debuting at the age of 20-21, he got a chance at the age of 27. Rayudu made his international debut against Zimbabwe in Harare on 24 July 2013. Even after this, he kept getting in and out of the team.
Ambati Rayudu made his first class debut for Hyderabad at the age of just 16. After the 2004 Under-19 World Cup, his poor performance continued in the Ranji Trophy as well. Meanwhile, he had a quarrel with Hyderabad coach Rajesh Yadav, after which he left the team and went to play for Andhra Pradesh. During a Ranji Trophy match, he had a fight with the Hyderabad players. Arjun Yadav, who was playing for Hyderabad, attacked him with a stump.
Rayudu had just emerged from this controversy when he again came into the limelight by rebelling against BCCI in 2007. Actually, despite BCCI's ban, he went to play in the Indian Cricket League. BCCI did not recognize this league at that time. In such a situation, BCCI banned Team India and the board from all tournaments. However, amid opposition from BCCI and ICC, Indian Cricket League was closed after just 2 years and in 2009 Ambati Rayudu separated from it.
Ambati Rayudu had to apologize to BCCI for participating in the Indian Cricket League. After this, the doors of domestic cricket, IPL and Team India opened for him again. In IPL 2010, Mumbai Indians included him in the team by paying 12 lakh rupees. In IPL, Rayudu started performing brilliantly for Mumbai in every season and won many big matches. While playing in IPL also, he got into controversies due to which he clashed with Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan. Meanwhile, in 2013, he got a call for Team India but he did not get many opportunities.
Rayudu, who made his ODI debut in 2013 and T20 International debut in 2014, did not get a chance to play a single Test match. He could play only 6 matches in T20 as well, in which he scored just 42 runs. On the other hand, despite performing brilliantly in ODIs, he kept getting in and out of the team. He was a part of the Indian team during the 2015 World Cup but did not get any match. Then in the middle for a year or two, his performance was not very good and he was also out of the team. He made a comeback after a great performance in the 2018 IPL but was not selected for the 2019 World Cup. There was a lot of uproar over this. Rayudu was very hurt by this and he retired in anger.
