Venugopal Rao announces retirement from all forms of cricket
Venugopal Rao played for India in 16 ODIs and featured in 65 matches for Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.
Published : Jul 30, 2019 18:32 IST
Former India player and Andhra Ranji captain, Y. Venugopal Rao, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Tuesday.
Venu, as he is more familiar in the cricketing circles, played for India in 16 ODIs and featured in 65 matches for Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.
He was the second player to play for India from Andhra (BCCI senior selection panel chairman M.S.K. Prasad was the first). He also represented Gujarat and Rajasthan in Ranji Trophy.
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The 37-year-old Visakhapatnam-born cricketer, who was one of the key members who made Andhra a force to reckon with in domestic cricket, was a consistent performer in all the BCCI tournaments including Deodhar, Vijay Hazare and Challenger Trophy.
One of the high-points of his career was the unbeaten 228 for South Zone against the visiting England-A in a Duleep Trophy match in Gurgaon which helped the team chase down the fourth-highest target of 501.
Venugopal Rao’s career
He was also a member of the India under-19 World Cup-winning team in 2000.
His consistent performance in domestic cricket in Deodhar Trophy, Challenger Trophy and Vijay Hazare trophy (all one day tournaments of BCCI) paved the way for him to get in to the India squad and he made his debut against Sri Lanka in the first ODI on 30th July 2005, exactly 14 years ago.
A middle-order batsman with the ability to play long innings and also an occasional off-break bowler, Venu was also known as an exceptional fielder.
Later on, Venu became a TV commentator in Telugu.
Andhra Cricket Association president, secretary and other members appreciated his contribution to Andhra cricket and wished for his success in future endeavours.