Just over a year ago, Indian captain Virat Kohli felt ‘Rayudu is the right person to capitalize’ on the No.4 spot in the batting lineup – a position which had proved to be the team’s Achilles heel till then. This was after Rayudu had a superb IPL 2018 season scoring 602 runs at a strike-rate of almost 150 for the Chennai Super Kings before hitting twin fifties during India’s title-winning campaign at the Asia Cup.

In the ODI series against West Indies that followed, Rayudu seemed to have further cemented his spot in the team having scored 217 runs in 4 innings including a match-winning century in the 4th ODI. Buoyed by his form with the bat, Rayudu went on to call time on his first-class career in order to focus on the shorter formats. After all the 2019 World Cup loomed large and this could be Rayudu’s last chance at having a go at cricket’s most coveted prize. Little did Rayudu know then, that his fortunes would soon be taking an unexpected turn.

While he couldn’t make much impact with the bat in Australia, Rayudu would remember the ODI series Down Under for being reported for a suspect bowling action which would later turn into an ICC ban. But even Rayudu would admit that bowling wasn’t his strongest suit as he continued to nurture World Cup dreams.

Rayudu then went on to New Zealand in January 2019 where he top-scored with 190 runs in 5 matches as India won the series 4-1. At this juncture, no one would have faulted Rayudu for thinking that he would be on the plane to England in May. Sadly, for him, he was dropped after failing to cross 20 in the first 3 matches of the ODI series vs Australia at home in March.

Things turned worse for Rayudu when he sustained an injury during the initial days of the IPL which started on May 24. With the Indian squad selection for the World Cup set to be announced on April 15, Rayudu couldn’t have ‘chosen’ a worse time to get injured.

When the squad was finally announced, Rayudu and many other former cricketers were surprised not to find the former’s name in the 15-man list. Instead, all-rounder Vijay Shankar was preferred owing to his ‘3-dimensional’ abilities. As expected, Rayudu was left disheartened. He also went on to post a sarcastic tweet blasting the selectors’ decision to drop him at the crucial stage.

But Rayudu wasn’t done with surprises. At the end of August, the 33-year-old sent an e-mail to the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) citing his intention to return to the domestic circuit while adding that his decision to retire was an “emotional one”. Rayudu had also expressed his desire to play the IPL 2020 with the Chennai Super Kings. The HCA welcomed the comeback with aplomb as their chief selector Noel David saying that Hyderabad had “struggled” in his absence last year. Rayudu on his part conceded that he had turned down “lucrative offers to play in T10 and T20 leagues in Canada and other countries” and that his top priority now was to “get runs for Hyderabad”.

In September, Rayudu was appointed the captain of the Hyderabad side and he led the team during the following Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Finally, it looked like his career – at least the domestic one – was back on track. Just for a fleeting moment, it felt like Rayudu was finally writing his own script.

And then this happened:

Citing “a lot of politics” in the team which made him “uncomfortable”, Rayudu opted out of representing his State side Hyderabad in the upcoming Ranji Trophy. Rayudu claimed that he had also talked about his decision earlier with the newly elected president of the HCA, Mohammad Azharuddin but nothing happened. Azhar, who is never short of words termed Rayudu a “frustrated cricketer”. Rayudu then sent out a tweet asking the former India captain to “not make it personal” while advising him to isolate himself from “seasoned crooks”. Phew!

As of now, with Rayudu out of action from the field, a sword hangs over his cricket career. However, with the IPL 2020 still more than 4 months away, it’s more than enough time for Rayudu to spring a surprise or two. The only question is when.