Ambati Rayudu: An inconsistent cricketer or an unlucky one?
Amidst of all the success that the Indian Cricket Team tasted back in 2002, there was one name from the U19 squad of India, which was cropped out from the headlines at that time. During that era, Ambati Rayudu had stirred the status quo by playing a blistering knock of 177 against England's U-19 team and won the game single handedly for his team.
Later on he captained the Indian squad in the 2004 U-19 World Cup and took his team to the semis which had likes of some of the greats of the game like Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa and RP Singh. But from there onwards these greats cemented their place in the Indian squad and for Ambati Rayudu situations got even more worse.
If one would scrutinize the career of Ambati Rayudu carefully, then one would understand the grind through which the Hyderabad veteran has gone through. He played in the domestic circuit constantly and even showed some brilliant performances on that stage, but still could not get a sniff from the selectors. Even in the IPL he was picked by Mumbai Indians and became a reliable batsman for them by playing some match winning knocks but could not get a national call until 2013.
In 2013 Rayudu finally got his maiden national call and made his debut against Zimbabwe. Soon after he became a victim of experimentation policy followed by Indian team selection committee. During the course when India's squad for 2015 World Cup was being formed, Rayudu was again experimented with and was even picked in the World Cup squad, but he could not get an opportunity to feature in the playing XI in a single match.
From 2015 to 2018, Rayudu went back to the domestic circuit in a bid to restore his place in the Indian team. He did play a few matches for India in that phase, but was not able to cement his place. Then came IPL 2018 and in that season Rayudu was picked by CSK which proved crucial for him. Under Dhoni's captaincy, Rayudu got to open and he grabbed that opportunity with both hands. In that season Rayudu thundered like anything before and amassed 602 runs and forced the selectors to pick him for the following tour against England.
But it seemed that destiny had something else written for him as he failed in the Yo Yo test and was thus dropped from the side. This hurt him immensely and therefore, he worked and trained very hard and was finally picked up in the Asia Cup squad where he proved his mettle.
The following West Indies series also boosted his chances to feature in the World Cup squad and even forced Virat Kohli to look at him as a reliable No.4 option. But what followed from there was simply a nightmare for him as runs dried up from his end as he endured a poor run of form.
Rayudu failed in back to back series against Australia, New Zealand and then again when Australia came to India. His frustration even reflected in the ongoing season of the IPL and hence a string of low scores continued. Due to his poor form, Rayudu was left out in the cold and hence dropped from the recently announced squad for 2019 World Cup.
But, was it fair to leave out Rayudu for someone like Vijay Shankar, who has only played 9 games for India? To be honest, it wasn't! But now that Rayudu has been dropped and he is 33 already, will he be able to feature in the Indian team again in the future or is it the end of the road for him? Looking at the young crop of Indian cricketers that is coming up, it would be very hard for Rayudu to make a comeback now.