Ambati Rayudu: Successful Story Of Indian Cricketer!

Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu, commonly known as Ambati Rayudu is an Indian international cricketer who has represented the country in both Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 (T20) formats. A right-handed batsman and an occasional wicketkeeper, Ambati plays for Baroda in domestic cricket and for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The cricketer announced his retirement from all formats of cricket on 2 July 2019. On social media platforms, Ambati has a huge fan following with a whopping 4,76.,000 followers on Instagram and 4,38,000 followers on Facebook.

Physical Stats

Family

Born on 23 September 1985, Ambati’s father’s name is Sambasiva Rao and his mother’s name is Vijayalakshmi. Sambasiva Rao worked at the archives department and played a major role in Ambati Rayudu becoming a cricketer.

Ambati once said in an interview that it was his father who inspired him to pursue a cricketing career and made him join a cricket camp when he was studying in third grade.

Relationship

Ambati is married to Chennupalli Vidya, his college sweetheart. The couple tied the knot on Valentine’s Day, ie. 14th Feb 2009. Ambati Rayudu and Vidya announced the arrival of their daughter on July 12, 2020.

Education

Ambati completed his schooling at Bhavan’s Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Sainikpuri. Regarding his college education, no further details are available in public sources.

Controversies

There were several instances where Ambati was involved in a heated exchange of words and brawls with fellow players as well as the public.

• In a 2006 Ranji trophy match held between Andhra and Hyderabad, Ambati Rayudu who was then part of the Andhra team had a verbal spat with Arjun Yadav, a player who represented the Hyderabad team. After Ambati was dismissed, Arjun attacked him with stumps and it finally turned out to be a nasty situation.

• On 12th October 2022, during a match held in connection with Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Ambaty had a verbal duel with Sheldon Jackson. The cricketer lost his cool as Jackson did not take the strike on time.

• In September 2017, a video went viral on social media where Ambati Rayudu is seen assaulting a senior citizen. According to the senior citizens, they were on a walk and the cricketer who was driving an SUV at high speeds hit one of them.  In the video, Ambati is seen shouting at one of them and manhandling that person later.

Profession

In 1992, Ambati’s father made him enroll at the cricket academy run by Vijay Paul, the former Hyderabad cricketer. Paul later recalled those days when the cricketer’s father used to ferry his son on his scooter to attend various cricket camps and matches.  

In the late90s Ambati kickstarted his professional cricketing career by representing Hyderabad in the Under-16 and Under-19 levels. Later, in 2000, he was picked for the India Under-15 squad at the ACC Under-15 Trophy and an incredible performance in that tournament paved the way for him to be selected for the senior team of Hyderabad. 

When he was just 16 years of age, Ambati Rayudu played his debut first-class match for Hyderabad in the 2001–02 Ranji Trophy. The following year, in the 2002–03 Ranji Trophy, he achieved the distinction of becoming the youngest player ever to score a double century and a century in the same match in the history of the Ranji Trophy. At the 2004 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Ambati was chosen as the captain of the Indian team.

On 24 July 2013, Ambati Rayudu played his debut ODI match for India against Zimbabwe. The very next year, i.e. on 7 September 2014, the cricketer made his T20 debut for the country by playing against England. 

In his career spanning 7 years of representing the national team, Ambati has played a total of 196 ODI matches and 48 T20 matches.

Source of Income

Reportedly, Ambati’s net worth stands at $6 million. 

Lesser Known Facts About Ambati Rayudu

• Once Ambati had been to Raipur during the Champions League. At that point in time, Chennai Super Kings was staying at a hotel in Raipur and Ambati had sent biryani for the team. However, the hotel authorities did not let that food inside. Due to that incident, MS Dhoni got angry and vacated that hotel.  

• Ambati Rayudu once said in an interview that in his early days, he was not interested in cricket and he was more interested in studies. Since his father made him join a cricket camp, he forayed into cricket.

• He likes farming a lot.
• After the infamous brawl between Ambaty and Arjun Yadav in 2006, ten years later Ambati became the captain of the Hyderabad team and Arjun was appointed as the coach for the same team. In 2017, while referring to the brawl, Arjun commented that back then both of them were young and the past is past. He also added that they have become more responsible and it is time to focus on what is good for Hyderabad cricket. Ambati said that Arjun is a great source of strength.

• Ambati doesn’t use his phone generally as he feels that it is a distraction.

• During the 2016 IPL, Ambati Rayudu had a spat with Harbhajan Singh. Later while speaking to Harbhajan in an interview, Ambati said that she still feels sorry for what happened that day and he has said sorry so many times. 

• According to the cricketer, he has always enjoyed playing cricket. However, once he steps out of the ground, he is least interested in what is happening around the game.

• His idol in cricket is Sachin Tendulkar. He recalled that when he joined Mumbai Indians,  Sachin had helped him a lot in batting.

• When asked about whom he would love to go on a dinner date with, Ambati Rayudu replied that it would be Hema Malini.

• According to him, the funniest cricketer is Dwayne Bravo, the most skillful cricketer is Sachin Tendulkar and the coolest cricketer is MS Dhoni.

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