For bringing consistency to the middle order, Aditya has been called the Iceman, the Insurance Policy, Mr. Dependable, the Stick of Glue, and Pappelbon after the Boston Red Sox closer.

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36-year old Aditya Thyagarajan, who was not only a prolific batsman, but was known to be the best when it mattered the most, retired from international cricket on November 6, 2014.  

Aditya, who once told DreamCricket that he took pride in being someone who can be counted on when the chips are down, will be remembered for exactly that.  And of course, for his spectacular late cutter.

For bringing consistency to the middle order, Aditya has been called the Iceman, the Insurance Policy, Mr. Dependable, the Stick of Glue, and Pappelbon after the Boston Red Sox closer.

In forty six 50-over games for Team USA, Aditya Thyagarajan scored 939 runs at an average of 36.12.  Had he not suffered a dislocated right knee in a group match against Denmark during 2011 ICC WCL Division Three in Hong Kong, both USA's fortunes and Aditya's own statistics would have ended even better.

Never the one to mince words, Aditya told DreamCricket.com about his 2008 debut:  "We had a disappointing tournament and personally I was convinced my skill set was good enough to play at the associate/international level, but my fitness and fielding were not up to the mark."

Thyagarajan joined a gym, took on a personal trainer and worked six days a week on his cardio and lifted weights to improve his endurance.

"I could see major results immediately and felt stronger. This impacted my fielding and mental toughness and I was very confident whenever I took the field. My wife, Renuka, was extremely encouraging and went with me to the gym everyday, too, and this kept my focus," he said.

"My single-minded goal was to make an impact for the USA in the next big tournament."

The results of his hard work began to show in statistics where he had an average of 112 in the SCCA.

Thyagarajan was selected for the team that played in the West Indies domestic ODI tournament and the ICC Americas Cup in November of 2008.  "I came to the camp a much improved cricketer and felt really fit and stronger. I made it a point to be the first at the ground and the last to leave at the camp and would challenge coach Lambert to give me tougher drills."

"On the tour of West Indies, I felt comfortable against Test cricketers and ended up being the highest wicket taker and did reasonably well with the bat."  In that year's ICC Americas Cup, he ended up playing two key innings - 42 against Bermuda and a match winning 84 against Canada. 

In an interview with DreamCricket in March of 2009, Aditya said: "My goal for 2009-10 is to not only to emerge as one of the top performers for the USA team, but to do everything possible with bat and ball to help my team win at all levels."  In 2009, Thyagarajan led his club, Hollywood CC, to the SCCA league championship and received the MVP award with an impressive record of 627 runs at an average of 90, including a century; 23 wickets, and 10 catches.

By 2010, he was indeed on top of the game for USA.  In 2010, Aditya became the first recipient of the Batsman of the Year Award instituted by DreamCricket.com after scoring 612 runs in 19 50-over matches at an average of 55.64.  He also won the 2010 Cricketer of the Year Award.   That year, Aditya set the record for the highest Twenty20 score by a USA player of 72 not out, against Ireland.  This was part of the 99-run world record-setting partnership for the seventh wicket with Orlando Baker, especially notable as it came after USA had been reduced to 25 for 6.  The record still stands.

The same year, he also posted 2010's highest score in a 50-over game, 159 against Argentina in 119 balls, featuring 21 fours and three sixes.. The record held for three years until it was overhauled in 2013 by Steven Taylor.

Following his 2011 injury, Aditya never fully recovered and neither did USA.    Aditya appeared in just two tournaments after that.  In the ICC WCL Division Four tournament in 2012, he scored 35 runs from four innings.  He was dropped from the squad that played in Division Three in 2013 but was brought back once again in the Division Three tournament in 2014.  Here he scored 42 from four appearances.  

In his retirement too, Aditya was candid as always.  "I didn’t want to be a liability on the team. It was an easy decision. I truly believe there are better players than me in the country who can win games at the 5/6 position," he told NewYorkCricket.com

Some 10 years before he began playing for USA, Aditya was playing alongside Rahul Dravid under Anil Kumble's captaincy as a member of the KSCA XI.  In 1997, he even earned a call up to the Indian U-19 side that featured Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammed Kaif and Venugopal Rao.  It is USA cricket's good fortune that he landed on this country's shores.