Ambati Rayudu’s cricket journey has been a tricky story. Once considered and endorsed as the next Sachin Tendulkar of Indian cricket, Rayudu never played Test cricket for India. Then again he was famously assured of being India’s first-choice for the contentious No 4 batting position by captain Virat Kohli, but was not picked for the ICC 2019 World Cup. Rayudu was disregarded for Vijay Shankar on conditions that the latter could ball and field apart from batting and is a three-dimensional cricketer. Rayudu’s reply was a tweet that travelled faster than sprint legend Usain Bolt could run.

Rayudu’s technique and fluent strokes caught the eye of Indian selectors at a very young age. And when at 16, he smashed England bowlers all around the park for a monumental 177 runs, it was certain that big things awaited this young cricketer. He followed that game with a century and double hundred in a single Ranji Trophy match. But on-field confrontations added to injuries and constant change of domestic teams meant that the once-promising cricketer made his India debut at the age of 28. Take a look at some unknown facts about Ambati Rayudu.

Captained Future International Stars

Ambati Rayudu was appointed the captain of India’s Under-19 World Cup squad, which had many future international cricketers such as Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan, Irfan Dhawan, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh. But ironically, he was the last player from the team to make his debut for the senior Indian cricket team.

Youngest Player to Score Century and Double Century in Ranji Trophy

Rayudu was 17 years and 55 days when he smashed a double century in the first innings and a hundred in the second inning against Andhra Pradesh (his future team) while playing for Hyderabad. He scored 210 and 159 not-out during the 2002-03 Ranji Trophy encounter between Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh. He is still the second-youngest player to score a double ton in first-class cricket in Indian domestic circuit.

Chased With a Stump

Rayudu was once chased with a stump by Arjun Yadav. Arjun, who like Rayudu started his career with Hyderabad. The incident occurred in 2005 after Arjun was dismissed during a first-class match. The on-field spat got so bad that Arjun attacked Rayudu with a stump and almost hit him.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 23, 2019 08:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).