India's Alternate T20 XI

#4 Ambati Rayudu

One cannot find words to describe the extraordinary way in which Ambati Rayudu had batted this IPL. Firstly, getting picked by a side that has a huge reputation to live up to, secondly, not being sure whether he will get to be part of the playing XIs or not, Thirdly, to come out of the shadow of Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and do what he is good at.

Those were a lot of problems to deal with, at the beginning of the season. The Hyderabadi batsman had other plans though, getting an opportunity to open the batting, Rayudu took it with open arms and did exceedingly well, eventually making Murali Vijay sit out throughout the season.

Rayudu ended up as CSK's highest run scorer, scoring a career-best 602 runs in the season, at a career-best Strike Rate of 149.75 and at a career-best average of 43. It was a shock to see him getting dropped from the limited overs team against England due to fitness issues and it stirred some controversy too. Nevertheless, Rayudu is a gem for Indian Cricket at the moment and must be used well by the team, looking towards the 2019 World Cup.