When Ambati Rayudu pleasantly surprised his Hyderabad teammates

Ambati Rayudu, the former Indian cricketer, hasn’t had the best of times of late. Almost a year ago, the experienced campaigner was set to be India’s answer to their number four conundrum. However, times started changing for the Guntur-born cricketer and he steadily lost his place in the national team. The selectors ran out of patience after Rayudu couldn’t show the desired level of consistency.

He was subsequently left out of the World Cup squad. Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar got ruled out of the mega event. Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal were blessed with call-ups while Rayudu kept getting ignored. Recently, out of sheer frustration, he decided to hang his boots from all forms of cricket.

The 33-year-old wrote a letter to the Committee of Administrators of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) to make the announcement. He thanked the BCCI, the teams he represented and also the captains he played under- Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni– in the Indian team.

Words of praises for Ambati Rayudu

In the meantime, T Ravi Teja, one of Rayudu’s teammates in the Hyderabad team, heaped praises on the retired batsman. The 24-year-old cricketer narrated a heart-warming story where Rayudu’s bonding with the Hyderabad team was pretty evident. Moreover, he is deeply saddened by the fact that Ambati Rayudu won’t be there with the team anymore.

“When he came back to Hyderabad, he got so close to us that he bought bats worth Rs 50,000 each for all the 15 members of the squad. His tips were so fruitful whenever we played under him. For each win, he used to throw a party and was really friendly with us off the field. I am really sad to know that he will not be with us this season,” Teja was quoted as saying in The New Indian Express.

Akshath Reddy, another Hyderabad cricketer, was absolutely shocked after Rayudu decided to call it quits. “We are all really surprised. Whenever he has been with the team, he has always been thinking about how to help the youngsters in the team. He spoke with everyone equally,” Reddy mentioned.

Rayudu had a decent first-class career after making his debut back in 2001/02. He played 97 matches in which he scored 6,151 runs at an average of 45.56 with 16 centuries and 34 half-centuries.