Ambati Rayudu

A pint-sized punisher who was in the news as much for his run-ins with management and umpires as for his fluent strokemaking, Ambati Rayudu has witnessed several twists and turns in his career.

At 16, he was spoken of as India's next great batting hope when he blazed an unbeaten 177 while opening the batting, to help India Under-19s complete a clean sweep of a one-day series in England in 2002. The Ranji Trophy season that followed was also exceptional, including a double-century and a hundred for Hyderabad in a match against Andhra Pradesh.

Rayudu led India Under-19s to the semi-final of the World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004, but a disappointing domestic season later that year, and disagreements with his Hyderabad coach saw him move to represent Andhra - the first of four different domestic sides he would play for. At 21, his decision to play in the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League in 2007 nearly ended his India prospects, but after accepting the BCCI'S amnesty offer in 2009 he was picked up by Mumbai Indians for the IPL in 2010, which marked the start of a run where he was among their top run-scorers till 2017, and part of three title wins. His prolific run with the bat continued after he moved to Chennai Super Kings in 2018, where he racked up 602 runs in his debut season for the franchise.

Rayudu's IPL prowess contrasted sharply with his spotty career at the national level. He was handed his India debut in a low-profile ODI series in Zimbabwe in 2013 and he responded with an unbeaten 63, becoming the third-oldest Indian at the time to score a fifty on ODI debut. He was part of the 2015 World Cup squad but did not get a game. The following year he was left out of India's World T20 side.

After a two-year lull, he found himself back in the ODI side in 2018, appearing in 11 of the 20 matches India played that year, and scoring his third ODI century, against West Indies. Rayudu seemed a shoo-in for the No. 4 spot for the World Cup in 2019 but found himself passed up in favour of Vijay Shankar, which prompted him to announce his retirement from all forms of cricket in July 2019. He rescinded that decision to continue playing for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, just as he had done a U-turn on his decision to step away from first-class cricket a year before, but it seemed unlikely that he would be called into the national side ever again.