Raju ban gaya gentleman

Many years ago, Ambati Thirupathi Rayudu was hailed as the Next Big Thing after a splendid time in England on an Under-19 tour. He even captained the Indian Under-19 team for a while when the world seemed to be opening up for him.

 (Farjana K. Godhuly/AFP/Getty Images; via Rediff.com 2003)

Along the way, however, life intervened and after serving a (still rankling) "suspension" for playing in the ICL, Rayudu came back to prominence playing for the Mumbai Indians in the recent edition of the IPL.

In the years before the ICL, he had significant problems with the Hyderabad Cricket Association, particularly with the nepotism of Shivlal Yadav, who favored his son Arjun Yadav over others. It is a measure of the (mis)management of Shivlal that his son even managed to play a game for India in England while AT Rayudu never even came close to sniffing a spot in the Indian team. Three years ago I was so angry about this state of affairs, I wrote about it on my blog. Not surprisingly, since everyone in the BCCI selectorial committee and their mothers read my blog, Arjun Yadav has not shown his face near an Indian dressing room again.

Anyway, I digress. The reason I am raking up the past is that AT Rayudu is going to play for Baroda this upcoming Ranji season (by the way, I thought it was Vadodara...what happened to that?) and the Hyderabad coach, Venkatapathy Raju is spitting all over playing the "how dare he back-stab us?" card.

"It was done in bad taste," Raju told PTI. "As a senior member of the team, he should have taken the responsibility to guide Hyderabad this season. He should have been loyal to Hyderabad. This move reflects his commitment to the Hyderabad team."

Please, Raju. You ill-treat a fellow for years, treat him like a pariah, and then expect him to stick with you now. Heck, the Deccan Chargers did not get him into their team when the ICL-related suspension was revoked. Where was the loyalty you speak of then?

Here's a prediction for you, Raju. As long as the Yadavs are in charge of Hyderabad cricket I don't see Rayudu playing for us.

(Full disclosure: Many, many years ago, during my schooldays, I batted against Raju in an inter-house cricket match. I was bowled first ball by him. It was on that day that I realized that a slow left-arm spinner was not really that slow, after all!).