2002–03 Hyderabad C.A. season
The 2002–03 season is Hyderabad cricket team's 69th competitive season. The Hyderabad cricket team is senior men's domestic cricket team based in the city of Hyderabad, India, run by the Hyderabad Cricket Association. They represent the region of Telangana in the state of Andhra Pradesh in domestic competitions. Rayudu got selected to the Rest of India squad for the 2002 Irani Cup, a first-class cricket competition in India. Rayudu, Vinay Kumar and Arjun got selected to the South Zone squad for the 2002-03 Deodhar Trophy, a List-A cricket competition in India . Manohar got selected to the Elite–A squad while Arjun got selected to the Elite–B squad for the 2002–03 Duleep Trophy, a first-class cricket tournament in India. Ranji Trophy. The Hyderabad team, led by Venkatapathy Raju, began their campaign in the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India, with a loss against the Mumbai at Hyderabad on 9 November 2002. They finished fourth in Group A of the Elite Group and failed to qualify for the knockout stage with a win, two losses and four draws. The teenage sensation, Ambati Rayudu emerged as the second  highest run-getter by the end of the elite group-stage. Ranji One–Day Trophy. The Hyderabad team, led by Venkatapathy Raju, began their campaign in the Subbaiah Pillai Trophy as part of the South Zone Ranji One–Day Trophy, a List-A cricket tournament in India, with a loss against the Tamil Nadu at Bangalore on 6 December 2002. The partnership from Arjun Yadav and Devishetty Vinay Kumar helped the Hyderabad to a slow recovery from the initial collapse but wickets at the end restricted them to 205 while the century from Sridharan Sriram completed the chase for the  Tamil Nadu with six-wickets to spare. In the second match, the five-wicket haul from Inder Shekar Reddy helped the Hyderabad bowl out the Karnataka to 120. The Hyderabad suffered an initial collapse at the chase but an unbeaten 45-run knock from Vinay Kumar guided the Hyderabad win by four wickets. In the third match, the three-wicket by Mohammad Nadeemuddin triggered the initial collapse and helped the Hyderabad restrict the Andhra to 210 while the century from Tirumalasetti Suman along with the half-century from Ambati Rayudu helped the Hyderabad complete the chase with seven-wickets to  spare. The Hyderabad defeated the Goa by three wickets in their fourth match of the tournament after the half-centuries from Suman and Vinay Kumar helped the Hyderabad chase the target of 268 set by the Goa with the help of 89-run knock from Swapnil Asnodkar. In the final zonal match, the century from Sujith Somasunder along with the half-century from Hemanth Kumar helped the Kerala set the target of 298 while the three-wicket haul from K. N. Ananthapadmanabhan bowled the Hyderabad out for 247 despite 98-run knock from Vinay Kumar and another half-century from  Ibrahim Khaleel. This loss resulted in the Hyderabad finish third in South Zone and fail to qualify for the Ranji ODI Championship with three wins and two losses.