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Thank you, Ambati Rayudu – Forever the under-rated over-achiever

By Vineet Anantharaman

In an uninterrupted 14-year-long career, when you are constantly in your team’s playing XI, winning championships, closing out games, playing cameos, you expect to be spoken about more. You, naturally, expect to constantly be discussed in the analysis shows. Not if you are Ambati Rayudu.

Constantly sneaking under the radar, coming on, doing exactly his job, match after match, season after season. And then just disappear. Not an interview. Not a photo. Rarely ever a tweet. That was Ambati Rayudu, the team man everybody wanted on their side, and more importantly, the team man not everybody could be. He was the piece of the puzzle that was the toughest to find, and when you finally did, was practically impossible to build the puzzle without.

On Monday (May 29), a checkered flag waved on a checkered career. The game, the IPL, is suddenly going to be poorer.

He never had a fixed role. He made his role as per the situation. Opening and batting through the innings? Been there, done that. Coming in at three to accelerate? Check. In the middle-order as an enforcer? Again, done, multiple times. Walking in really low down the order with the asking rate touching near-impossible levels? Come in, hit crazy shots, finished the job. Need to double up as a wicket-keeper? Sure, can do that too.

Whether it was his quickfire fifty on debut to announce his arrival, or the last-ball six against KKR in 2011, or that stunning 10-ball 30 in the epic MI-RR game of 2014, or even his final 6, 4, 6 knock when his team was severely under the pump, Rayudu was literally the impact player way before the IPL adopted the term. He wasn’t the top-scorer, he wasn’t playing standout knocks, he was hardly ever fighting for the Orange Cap.

During the first wave of Covid where Instagram Lives were the in-thing, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina were on one. And when they were asked to select a combined MI-CSK XI, Ambati Rayudu was the first name on both their lists. They knew his worth. They knew the unglamourous role he played. They knew the impression he left behind.

It's high time the world knew too. 4348 IPL runs in 203 matches over 14 years is the stuff of legends. Let’s leave it to MS Dhoni to give him the perfect tribute, “The special thing about Rayudu is he will always give his 100% when he is on his field. He always wants to contribute and he has been a fantastic cricketer. I've been playing with him for a long time, since the India A tours. He's a player who can play spin and pace equally well. I always felt he would do something really special. I'm really happy for him. He's also a lot like me - someone who doesn’t use his phone often. He has had a fantastic career and I hope he enjoys the next phase of his life.”