He won the IPL trophy a record six times, being the only player other than Rohit Sharma to achieve this feat.

Disputes with players and state association, followed by signing up with the "rebel" Indian Cricket League, led to him being ignored for national team selection.

He returned to domestic cricket in 2009 by accepting BCCI's amnesty offer and terminating his ICL contract.

Shortly after, in June 2023, Rayudu was added to the roster for the Texas Super Kings in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket.

He appeared for India Under-15s at the ACC Under-15 Trophy in 2000, finishing as the leading run-scorer of the tournament[11] and winning man of the match in the final against Pakistan.

[16] Rayudu appeared in all matches for Hyderabad in the 2002–03 Ranji Trophy and amassed a total of 698 runs at an average of 69.80 to finish third on the leading run-scorers list.

[17] During the tournament, playing only his third Ranji game, Rayudu scored 210 and 159 not out against Andhra in the same match and "pressed his claims for an India cap".

ESPNcricinfo wrote about the 17-year-old: "Touted as the next big hope for Indian middle-order batting, Rayudu has had the critics gushing about his scintillating strokeplay and his composure under pressure.

"[20] However he had a disappointing stint with India Seniors at the Challenger Trophy in September 2003, where his perceived weakness against the short ball was exploited.

[21] He then failed to make an impression in the Emerging Players Tournament after which he played four matches in the following Ranji season with an average of over 54.

[23] Rayudu captained the Indian team at the 2004 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh where India finished as semifinalists.

He averaged 24.83 with the bat at the tournament[24] and was banned for the semifinal against Pakistan for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct in the previous match.

In December 2012, the newly formed selection panel, chaired by Sandeep Patil who was also previously associated with the ICL, picked Rayudu as the replacement player for the injured Manoj Tiwary for the T20I series against England.

[46] During the West Indies tri-series in July 2013, Rayudu was named the replacement for Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was ruled out of the series due to an injury,[47] but did not appear in any of the matches.

He made his international debut in the first ODI of the series, on 24 July 2013, and was crucial in setting up an Indian win.

[48] Rayudu continued to be a part of India's ODI squads as a reserve batsman in the home series against Australia in October 2013, against West Indies in November 2013, as well as on tours to South Africa in December 2013 and New Zealand in January 2014, making only two appearances in the playing eleven across the four series.

[55] Rayudu averaged 19.33 in the tri-series against Australia and England and was selected in India's 15-member squad for the 2015 Cricket World Cup which reached the semifinal, but did not appear in any of the matches in the tournament.

[56] In the subsequent tour of Zimbabwe, Rayudu scored an unbeaten 124 in the first ODI at Harare and won the man of the match award.

[61] In 2023, shortly after announcing his retirement from Indian cricket, he joined former teammates, Devin Conway and Mitchell Santner, and coach, Stephen Fleming for Rayudu's debut in a league outside of India.

He is listed as the wicket keeper batsman on the Texas Super Kings squad in one of the 9 available overseas player slots for the inaugural season of Major League Cricket.

[3][62] In August 2023, he was signed by St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots as a marquee player ahead of the 2023 season of the Caribbean Premier League.

[71] In September 2017, a video surfaced on social media showing Rayudu getting into a heated argument, manhandling and punching a senior citizen.