1. Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu was born on 23 September 1985 and is a former Indian international cricketer, commentator and politician.
52 Facts About Ambati Rayudu
1. 2.
Ambati Rayudu played 61 limited overs matches for the India national cricket team between 2013 and 2019.
3.
Ambati Rayudu won the IPL trophy a record six times, being the only player other than Rohit Sharma to achieve this feat.
4.
Ambati Rayudu played for Hyderabad in domestic cricket, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
5.
Ambati Rayudu was a part of the Indian squad which won the 2018 Asia Cup.
6.
Ambati Rayudu is a right-handed middle-order batsman, who occasionally keeps wicket and bowls right-arm off breaks.
7.
Ambati Rayudu returned to domestic cricket in 2009 by accepting BCCI's amnesty offer and terminating his ICL contract.
8.
Ambati Rayudu eventually made his international debut in July 2013, in an ODI against Zimbabwe.
9.
On 29 May 2023, Ambati Rayudu announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket.
10.
Shortly after, in June 2023, Ambati Rayudu was added to the roster for the Texas Super Kings in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket.
11.
Ambati Rayudu was born on 23 September 1985 in upper middle class family.
12.
Ambati Rayudu has said in an interview that his father was his inspiration to take up cricket and put him into a coaching camp when he was in third grade.
13.
Ambati Rayudu's father took him to the cricket academy of former Hyderabad cricketer Vijay Paul in 1992.
14.
Ambati Rayudu began his career playing for Hyderabad youth teams in the late-90s, playing at the Under-16 and Under-19 levels.
15.
Ambati Rayudu appeared for India Under-15s at the ACC Under-15 Trophy in 2000, finishing as the leading run-scorer of the tournament and winning man of the match in the final against Pakistan.
16.
Ambati Rayudu became the youngest player in the history of Ranji Trophy to score a double century and a century in the same match.
17.
In 2003, Ambati Rayudu played extensively for India A on its West Indies and England tours.
18.
Ambati Rayudu averaged 87 on the England tour following which experts opined that he is "sure to play for India in the near future".
19.
Ambati Rayudu then failed to make an impression in the Emerging Players Tournament after which he played four matches in the following Ranji season with an average of over 54.
20.
Ambati Rayudu captained India Under-19s to the title at the Asia Under-19 tournament, with an unbeaten fifty in the final.
21.
Ambati Rayudu captained the Indian team at the 2004 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh where India finished as semifinalists.
22.
Ambati Rayudu averaged 24.83 with the bat at the tournament and was banned for the semifinal against Pakistan for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct in the previous match.
23.
Ambati Rayudu struck an unbeaten century for India A against Kenya at Nairobi later that year.
24.
Ambati Rayudu returned to Hyderabad the following season after Vivek Jaisimha took over as the team's coach.
25.
In 2009, the BCCI granted amnesty to 79 Indian players in the ICL, including Ambati Rayudu, allowing them to come back to Indian domestic cricket.
26.
At the Ranji Trophy that season, Ambati Rayudu finished as Baroda's leading run-getter with 566 runs in 9 matches at an average of 56.60 including an unbeaten double hundred and three half-centuries, while the team finished runners-up.
27.
Ambati Rayudu was then recalled to the India A squad on its New Zealand tour and scored 105 and 26 not out against New Zealand A at Lincoln.
28.
Ambati Rayudu was included in the 30 probables for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 but failed to make it to the final 15-man squad.
29.
However, Ambati Rayudu did not feature in the playing eleven in either of the two matches.
30.
Ambati Rayudu played for Rest of India in the 2013 Irani Cup against Mumbai and scored 51 and 156*.
31.
Ambati Rayudu was then selected in a second string Indian squad for the tour of Zimbabwe later that month.
32.
Ambati Rayudu made his international debut in the first ODI of the series, on 24 July 2013, and was crucial in setting up an Indian win.
33.
Ambati Rayudu made 63* and in partnership with his captain, Virat Kohli, who made a century, helped India win.
34.
Ambati Rayudu became the 12th Indian batsman to score a half-century on ODI debut.
35.
Ambati Rayudu continued to be a part of India's ODI squads as a reserve batsman in the home series against Australia in October 2013, against West Indies in November 2013, as well as on tours to South Africa in December 2013 and New Zealand in January 2014, making only two appearances in the playing eleven across the four series.
36.
Ambati Rayudu played in all matches of 2014 Asia Cup and scored 58 against Pakistan.
37.
Ambati Rayudu struggled during the three-match ODI tour of Bangladesh, making two single-digit scores.
38.
Ambati Rayudu was picked in the ODI and T20I squads for the tour of England in July 2014.
39.
Ambati Rayudu played in the third ODI at Nottingham where he picked his maiden ODI wicket, that of England captain Alastair Cook, and top-scored with 64 not out to help India register a six-wicket win.
40.
Ambati Rayudu followed it with a 53 in the fifth ODI at Leeds.
41.
Ambati Rayudu averaged 28.50 in the home ODI series against West Indies in October 2014.
42.
Ambati Rayudu scored his maiden ODI century in the following series against Sri Lanka, hitting an unbeaten 121 in the second ODI at Ahmedabad and guiding India to the target of 275.
43.
Ambati Rayudu averaged 19.33 in the tri-series against Australia and England and was selected in India's 15-member squad for the 2015 Cricket World Cup which reached the semifinal, but did not appear in any of the matches in the tournament.
44.
Ambati Rayudu played two ODIs on the Bangladesh tour in June 2015 and averaged 22.
45.
Ambati Rayudu scored 41 in the next match before suffering an injury that ruled him out of the tour.
46.
On 28 May 2023, prior to the 2023 IPL final, Ambati Rayudu announced that it would be his final IPL match.
47.
However, on 29 May 2023, Ambati Rayudu announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket.
48.
Ambati Rayudu is listed as the wicket keeper batsman on the Texas Super Kings squad in one of the 9 available overseas player slots for the inaugural season of Major League Cricket.
49.
Ambati Rayudu became the second Indian to feature in the CPL, after Pravin Tambe.
50.
Ambati Rayudu married Chennupalli Vidya, a college friend, on 14 February 2009.
51.
Ambati Rayudu has been involved in confrontations with players and umpires throughout his career.
52.
In September 2017, a video surfaced on social media showing Ambati Rayudu getting into a heated argument, manhandling and punching a senior citizen.