Yalaka Venugopal Rao

Venugopal Rao

Personal information
Full name	Yalaka Venugopal Rao
Born	26 February 1982 Visakhapatnam, India
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm off spin
Role	Batsman
Relations	Gnaneshwar Rao (brother)
International information
National side	India
ODI debut (cap 160)	30 July 2005 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI	23 May 2006 v West Indies
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1998–2007	Andhra
2007–2008	Maharashtra
2008–present	Rajasthan
2008–2010	Deccan Chargers
2011-2013	Delhi Daredevils
2014-	Sunrisers Hyderabad
Career statistics
Competition ODI FC LA T20 Matches 16 85 114 32 Runs scored 218 5,326 3,236 489 Batting average 24.22 42.95 37.62 22.22 100s/50s 0/1 13/23 9/20 0/3 Top score 61* 228* 110* 71* Balls bowled 0 4,685 2,935 258 Wickets – 57 51 8 Bowling average – 37.66 46.72 45.12 5 wickets in innings – 0 1 0 10 wickets in match n/a 0 n/a n/a Best bowling – 4/34 5/20 2/23 Catches/stumpings 6/– 72/– 39/– 9/–
Source: Cricinfo, 3 August 2009

Yalaka Venugopal Rao  pronunciation  (born February 26, 1982) is an Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed middle order batsman and right arm off-break bowler. He was the first Indian "super sub" in ODI cricket. He represents Andhra Pradesh in first class cricket, and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. Venugopal has also opened the batting for India in a one day series in Zimbabwe. He has a brother Gnaneshwar Rao who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. An elegant player in the classical mould, Rao was unable to carve out a permanent spot for himself in the Indian squad.

International career

Venugopal Rao who plays for Andhra Pradesh in domestic matches has impressed Indian selectors with a domestic average of over 50 and one day average of around 40. This included one innings in the Ranji Trophy for South Zone where he scored 223 against a touring England A team which included Test bowlers such as Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff.

He consequently earned a call up to the national side for the 2005 Indian Oil Cup in July 2005, after captain Sourav Ganguly was dropped from the team. He made sporadic appearances throughout the Indian 2005/06 season, mostly when other players were being rested under a rotation policy. He was unable to establish a position in the team, and has not played in ODIs since April 2006.

Indian Premier League

Rao was drafted into the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League in 2008. He was one of the very few successful players in the team's disastrous campaign in the inaugural Indian Premier League. He made 365 runs in 14 innings, which had 3 fifties at a strike rate of 124.57. He also hit 16 sixes and 26 fours in the tournament.

In 2014 , he was purchased by Sunrisers Hyderabad for 55 lakh INR and will represent them in IPL 7.

Bowling	Matches	Innings	Runs	Wickets	Avg.	Econ.	SR	4W	5W	Best Figures
IPL 2008	11	10	137	2	68.50	9.78	42.00	0	0	2/25 v Mumbai Indians
IPL 2009	13	11	122	4	30.50	8.13	22.50	0	0	2/23 v Rajasthan Royals

Batting	Matches	Innings	Not out	Runs	HS	Avg.	BF	SR	4s	6s	50s	100s
IPL 2008	11	10	2	288	71* v Kolkata Knight Riders	36.00	210	137.14	22	15	2	0
IPL 2009	13	11	2	116	32 v Kings XI Punjab	12.88	103	112.62	6	3	0	0

Source : http://www.iplt20.com
Updated : May 19, 2009,02:15 AM

External links

• Cricinfo profile on Venugopal Rao
• Interview with Y.Venugopal Rao on Cricketfundas.com