Plowing through the red tape: Inside Ambati Rayudu’s mission to fix Hyderabad cricket

File photo- Rayudu has ringed in extensive changes to Hyderabad’s cricket culture and the immediate results are there for everyone to see- after three games, Hyderabad sits atop Group B in the Ranji Trophy with 20 points. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

Hyderabad cricket has heard many speeches, but few came with a tractor.

In the six months since Ambati Rayudu promised to change the culture, the former India batter has been seen at pitch-side at dawn, at the soil vendor’s door in the rain and, by his own count, five to seven kilos lighter.

The initial results suggest the effort is paying off. The first phase of this Ranji Trophy season has wrapped up with Hyderabad winning three matches and playing out one draw, enough to sit on top of the Elite Group B table with 20 points. From players to coaches, the delight is evident.

Rayudu, the Director of Cricket Operations at the Hyderabad Cricket Association, shares it, but he is wary of premature celebrations. He takes his pride instead from the system underneath.

“I wouldn’t read too much into the results as of now, but I’m very happy with the way the systems are set. And most importantly, the boys are very confident and glad there is something to look forward to,” he told Sportstar.

It is a long way from May 5, when he walked into a hall of cameras and vowed to take Hyderabad cricket to the next level. Plenty of men have said as much in those corridors. What followed, Rayudu says, was quieter than the promise: basics, done properly, every single day.

First, he filled the calendar. Hyderabad’s age-group sides now play far more than the league demands, close to a thousand match days this season. It is how his own generation grew up.

“When they wake up, if they don’t have a game, they need to be worried: ‘What am I going to do today?’ We wanted to get that feeling back.”

Wasim Jaffer’s arrival as mentor has reinforced that change, bringing a cricketing culture to players and coaches alike. Open trials now let district players walk into Gymkhana and chase a State cap. 

From the grassroots to the selection room, no corner of the system escaped a rethink. 

The first thing Rayudu did after taking over was filling the calendar. Hyderabad’s age-group sides now play far more than the league demands, close to a thousand match days this season. Moreover, open trials now let district players walk into Gymkhana and chase a State cap.  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

“The first point on our agenda while picking selectors was: Do they have the integrity required? Because beyond that, we will take care of whatever comes. And because they come with such integrity, they are quite adamant and stubborn in their decision making as well. That is a welcome sign because we don’t want them to be yes-men. And they have done a fantastic job, so no complaints at all. All due credit to Jeevan Reddy (HCA secretary) or anybody else, they have never questioned the team selections.”

His Cricket Operations Committee (COC) had only stepped in when choosing who to lead the side.

Every pick and every omission is done through a signed sheet, filed with the Single Member Committee (SMC) headed by retired Justice P. Naveen Rao, Jeevan and the COC.

“The sheets have all the details about why a player was selected. In case any issue comes up, everything can be checked. It’s a way to avert any bad calls. It’s just like a Decision Review System (DRS), which helps us avoid blunders. If something comes up in the future, there is always documentation, which over a few years also helps us gather data on what could have been better.”

Digging in

From a cricket development perspective, Hyderabad’s flat tracks are no one’s first choice. They weren’t Rayudu’s either. International fixtures returning to the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium meant domestic hosting duties were solely granted to the iconic Gymkhana ground in Secunderabad. 

Rayudu had ideas, but had to deal with some anticipated roadblocks first. 

“There were so many apprehensions. Funds weren’t getting released sometimes. Tenders were not being opened.”

The system dragged its feet but Rayudu and head curator Mukesh Kumar did not. Priority was finding the right soil to redo the pitches. 

They waited on vendors who vanished when the rains came, paid extra for earthmovers and chased labour that never turned up. When no tractors could enter the city, Rayudu sent for his own.

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“Once everything came to the ground, we did not get labour sometimes. There were no tractors that were coming into the city, among other issues. So I brought my own tractor and the person who works on my farm. He is the one who has done all the banks that you see in Gymkhana now.”

Picking the soil, too, was just as elaborate and involved early morning trips to neighbouring districts. 

“We’ve put in three types of soil. Even the mixed soil used is a natural mix. The soil near Vikarabad naturally gets mixed with red and black, so that is one of the soils that we picked up. There’s also a black soil pitch which is a proper seaming track which, I am sure, will come in handy in the future.”

Rayudu and head curator Mukesh Kumar waited on vendors who vanished when the rains came, paid extra for earthmovers and chased labour that never turned up. When no tractors could enter the city, Rayudu sent for his own. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

His benchmark comes from seven seasons at Motibaug with Baroda. A good Ranji pitch, he explained, lets teams bat about 90 overs and keeps all four innings alive. The toss should not decide the outcome.

This surge was hardly without resistance. Ticking deadlines, noncooperative arms of bureaucracy and funding trouble came and went but the COC persevered. On the field, backing local league performers for the newly introduced Super League places drew backlash from those used to doing it differently.

The Gymkhana ground in Secunderabad has three types of pitches- a red-soil pitch, a black-soil pitch. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Rayudu shrugged off the risk. “What is the worst thing that can happen? They would have all signed a petition to remove us! But by the time that happens, we would have already done a lot of good work.”

Rayudu sits now with the satisfaction of a productive start under his belt. 

“It was a crazy experience, but we were not going to stop for anybody. It’s not just me. Even Wasim bhai, Mukesh and COC members P.S. Niranjan and M.P. Arjun, they have put in a lot of effort behind the scenes to make all this happen. It’s been a painstaking and stressful one, but for the first time in HCA’s history, I think good is winning over evil.”

Systems to outlast

The next phase moves beyond Gymkhana. Academies have been planned in Mahabubnagar and Karimnagar, along with a high-performance centre at Uppal, possibly run by an outside body under a public-private model. Rayudu hopes to get work started within a month or two. HCA-run teams may also enter different league divisions, so that talent found at open trials has somewhere competitive to play.

Women’s cricket will follow. 

“We didn’t have time to go into women’s cricket this season,” Rayudu admitted, adding, “It’s just a matter of time that everything will follow in women’s cricket as well. SMC and even Jeevan are very eager to get everything done in the women’s game as well.”

Less than a decade ago, Rayudu took to social media and did not mince his words in criticising the way HCA was run. And he admitted that he never saw himself coming to bring out the change he longed to see.

“I thought that there was no hope left. But as they say in India, justice is always delayed, but it is never denied. I wouldn’t say things are perfect right now, not at all. There’s still a long way to go from here, but the processes are being set, there are a lot of systems and protocols that have come into place. Eventually at the end of the season we will release a document on the systems and processes. Once it all gets ratified and if followed, a lot of good will happen in the future.”

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Rayudu, who said his desire is to see HCA among India’s top five associations in administration as well as cricket, said he is taking it all one year at a time. He has had the support of the SMC and Jeevan during this time, something he constantly credits for what he’s managed to do in the opening months of his tenure. 

“I told myself that I’ll give everything to Hyderabad cricket for a year. I wanted to sacrifice a year for Hyderabad, which has done so much for me in terms of my cricketing career. Beyond this, I want to set up systems and protocols. The main thing is that SMC needs to be there for at least two or three years. That is very, very important, and along with him Jeevan should be around. I think with them and with these systems, even if I am there or not, it will all run very well.”

It’s been a decade since Hyderabad made the Ranji knockouts. They’ve even had a taste of life in the Plate division since. Three wins in four fixtures is a good start, but it’s just that – a start. Rayudu and his team have picked their Everest. But the first steps look promising.