New Delhi [India], January 8 : Hyderabad batter Aman Rao, who rose to fame with a brilliant 200* against Bengal in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), spoke on his journey from being an American citizen by birth, born in Wisconsin, to finally a breakthrough season with Hyderabad in domestic cricket, getting a social media shoutout from Indian spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin and how he aims for first-class cricket debut.
Aman scored a brilliant 200* in 154 balls, with 12 fours and 13 sixes during his side's VHT clash against Bengal on Tuesday, against a solid bowling attack of Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep, Shahbaz Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar. With this, he became the ninth batter to hit a double ton in VHT, joining stars like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Prithvi Shaw and also the first-ever Hyderabadi batter to do so.
Before this, he had played his first full-fledged Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) tournament for Hyderabad, scoring 234 runs in 10 innings at an average of 26.00, a strike rate of 163.63, including a half-century against Mumbai, consisting of a bowling attack of Shardul Thakur, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, and Atharva Ankolekar.
This recent success did not come easy to him. Born in Wisconsin, he was an American citizen by birth and awaited paperwork for confirmation of his Indian citizenship, which he needed in order to represent Hyderabad. The papers came just in time before the tournament started, two days before the start date.
Before this, he had made his T20 debut for Hyderabad against Mizoram in December 2024 (when he could play as an Indian resident as per rules) and scored a brilliant 67* in 42 balls on debut.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach Kumar Sangakkara had also caught some glimpses of his heroics in the domestic circuit in such a short span, and he was bought by the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL) champions for Rs 30 lakh.
This moment marked a massive change for Aman, who had returned to India at six months of age, when his parents decided to shift base to their home country. Back in India, he would accompany his elder brother to St John's Academy, which helped legends VVS Laxman and Mithali Raj reach the international level of batsmanship. Often finding himself in struggles and sitting on the fringes during age-group cricket levels, this season is already set in the history books for Aman.
Speaking on waiting for his paperwork, he said to ESPNCricinfo, "It was a nervous wait."
His double hundred against a strong Bengal attack with four international-level players attracted Indian spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin, who said that "RR had struck gold with him" and also pointed to his unreal acceleration, scoring his first 100 runs in 108 balls before reaching the next 100 runs in just 46 deliveries.
However, aware of the ever-changing, fickle-minded nature of fandom in Indian cricket, Aman does not let all the attention "get to his head".
"With attention and social media, I try not to let it get to my head," he says. "Attention can be there today and gone tomorrow. I try to stay neutral, humble, and not think too much about it. I am fully aware that appreciation today can turn into criticism one day, so I do not dwell on it," he said.
Having impressed one and all with his sharp hand-eye coordination and hitting, he struggled as recently in October for big scores, and he turned to fellow Hyderabadi Tilak Varma, who has as of late made strides as India's sealed number three choice in T20Is, for some help.
"Tilak was in Australia with the T20I team, but it was nice of him to give me that time," Rao said.
"It was a phase where I was not getting runs but doing everything I could. I would got a 90, but nothing after that. I wanted a different perspective, so I messaged him. He took time out and spoke to me of his experiences with failure, what he did to come out and what I could try. He told me a few things. At that stage, those words were very comforting. So that conversation helped," he added.
In the Under-23 men's elite trophy in November, he made 381 runs in six innings at an average of 63.50, with a century and three fifties and a best score of 138.
Thriving really well as an opener, Aman revealed that initally, he was "scared to open".
"But when I scored my first century as a nine-year-old, I got that confidence to face the new ball. I have been an opener since," he added.
Aman said that while he could not do that well in U14, he did well in U16s, scoring a double hundred in his first year in this particular age group. He also spoke on the disappointment he felt when his U19 career did not work out as well as he wanted.
"The following year, I captained the Under-16 team, and we reached the semi-finals. Then Covid happened, and I lost one year of Under-19 cricket. In my first proper year of Under-19s, the year of the [2020] World Cup batch, I was not selected in the one-day squad initially, even though I performed in the league matches."
"I was picked for the multi-day team later, did well there, and went to the NCA again. Unfortunately, there was no Under-19 India tour that year. In my last year of Under-19s, because players are not considered, I missed out again."
"At that point, I was very disappointed. Playing for Under-19 India had been my dream. Every kid dreams of that. My coaches told me that even if this did not happen, something bigger might be waiting, and that I should just keep working," he continued.
After not getting ample chances at U19, he did not forget his grind and "trusted the progress".
"The day I was not selected, I went straight to practice. I did not take a break. I just trusted the process. My dad also told me it was not the end of the world, that more chances would come, and I should be ready to grab them. That mindset helped," he said.
Having faced struggles of being on the fringes, Aman now aims to make every opportunity in white-ball cricket for his state count and wants to continue polishing his craft leading upto IPL.
"And before that, if I AM lucky, hopefully a Ranji Trophy debut," he concluded.
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