Jesse Ryder is a talented New Zealand cricketer who has gained a reputation as a wild-boy. He mixes good performances with occasional bad behavior. His weight issues are talked about a lot, but his batting has given New Zealand a boost unlike never before. His performances in all formats of the game have been steady and had it not been for injuries, they would have been greater.

Ryder made his debut in the home series against England in 2008. He made a good impression with both bat and ball. He scored 196 runs in five matches, including a fifty which earned him the Man of the Match award. He was all set to become a regular fixture in the team but he ruined his chance. He managed to put his hand through a glass window after a night of heavy drinking. The injury set back his Test debut by a couple of months.

He started his Test career steadily with fifties against Bangladesh and the West Indies. However, big score eluded Jesse but he managed to change all that during India's tour to New Zealand in 2009. It was a series that turned his career around. He scored his first ODI century in a high-scoring humdinger at Christchurch and he blasted an aggressive 63 in the final ODI to salvage a win for the Kiwis. He continued the good work by scoring his maiden Test century at Hamilton and went one better with another double century in the next Test at Napier.

Injuries once again took a toll on Jesse's body. During the Champions Trophy, he suffered a groin injury against Sri Lanka but continued to bat on with the pain. He hobbled his way to 74 and helped New Zealand defeat Sri Lanka, but for Jesse, his tournament was over.

Jesse made a comeback into the team and continued to punish the Indian bowling. He scored his third Test century against them by smashing 103 at Ahmedabad. He was the most consistent performer on the tour. He continued on his strong performances by smashing a belligerent 107 against Pakistan in the series just before the World Cup. Jesse had a low key World Cup but New Zealand managed to make the semi-finals for the sixth time before falling at that hurdle again.

Over the years, Ryder faced a lot of behavioural problems making him media's favourite scandal child. In mid-2012, Ryder decided to take a sabbatical from international cricket due to a prolonged history of constant injuries and other controversial issues. Despite scoring a fantastic 162 in domestic cricket later that year, Ryder said that he was still not ready to get back on the international scene. His return was further delayed in 2013 when he was involved in a brutal bar attack and was in a critical condition at Christchurch hospital after being assaulted by two people. This incident forced him to withdraw from the sixth edition of the IPL. More trouble followed later that year when he was banned for six months for consumption of a banned substance.

Ryder finally got to break through into international cricket once again in the West Indies series in 2013/2014. He came back with a bang hitting 104 in just 51 balls in the 3rd ODI; his century in 46 balls being the sixth fastest ton in ODI cricket. A string of so-so performances followed soon after that. Controversy struck once again when Ryder was found to have gone on a late-night drinking binge on the eve of the first Test versus India in January 2014. He was immediately dropped from the squad and has not found his way back in the team since then. He was among a few other New Zealand players, who went unsold in the 2014 IPL auctions. The selectors also ignored him for the 2014 World T20 taking place in Bangladesh.

By Cricbuzz staff
As of March 2014