Birthday special: Ambati Rayudu – One of the unluckiest cricketers in Indian cricket

Being Ambati Rayudu is certainly not easy. In spite of having the talent, in spite of scoring heavily in domestic cricket, Rayudu could not feature in the Indian side on a consistent basis.

Rayudu boasts of a stellar record in domestic cricket. He has played 97 first-class matches and scored 6151 runs at a good average of 45.56, and also amassed 5336 runs in List A cricket at an average of above 40. In domestic T20 cricket, Rayudu plundered a colossal 5368 runs at an average in excess of 25 in 248 matches.

Apart from that, he has set the IPL alight on numerous occasions, and has scored 3795 runs at an average of 29.42 in a colossal 167 matches, and has also plundered a hundred and 20 fifties in the Indian T20 league as well.

But then, a consistent run in the Indian side always eluded him. Rayudu made his ODI debut in the year 2013, but could only play 55 ODIs. He did a good job, scoring 1694 runs at an average of 47.06, including 3 hundreds and 10 fifties, but he could not seal a permanent spot in the Indian side.

Even in T20I cricket too, the same tale followed. Having made his T20I debut in 2014, the right-hander played just 6 T20Is for India. And, he did not get a chance to wear the whites even once for his country. The most heartbreaking moment of Rayudu’s career came when he was snubbed from the Indian squad for the 2019 World Cup that took place in England.

Rayudu had averaged 56.00 in the year 2018 in 10 innings with the bat in ODIs, had averaged above 30, in the year 2019, and in these 2 years combined, he had scored a hundred and 4 fifties in ODI cricket. But still, he was not included in the Indian World Cup squad.

Vijay Shankar, a ‘three-dimensional’ player was picked ahead of Rayudu for the 2019 World Cup, and Rayudu let his frustrations known when he tweeted that he had ordered 3D glasses to witness the mega event. After that, Rayudu did not get to play a single match for the Indian side and even hastily announced his retirement from the international arena.

Rayudu continues to ply his trade in the IPL and is currently representing the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) side in the tournament. Ambati Rayudu had the talent, he even scored a truckload of runs in domestic cricket and performed decently whenever he was provided with chances in the international arena. But then, fate had other plans for him as he could not experience a consistent run with the Indian side.

Surely, Rayudu will go down as one of the unluckiest cricketers in the history of Indian cricket. As Rayudu turns 36 today, here is wishing him a very happy birthday.