His bat was known as the magic wand as whatever it stroke it yielded runs, runs and more runs. Venugopal Rao made his first-class debut at the age of 17 representing Andhra Pradesh. He has also captained India A and the Board President XI’s in the past. He was the first “super sub” in ODI cricket, a concept that is now outdated.

Two days before his 22nd birthday, Rao shot into national contention with an unbeaten 228 for South Zone to help them chase down England A's target of 501, the fourth-highest successful first-class chase. He has been a part of the Indian squad during the U-19 World Cup in 2002. His performance in the domestic season earned him a place in the national squad in 2005, but he failed to make any impact. Rao was the only star to have shone in the Hyderabad camp in the inaugural Indian T20 league of 2008 where he notched up 365 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 124.57. In 2011, he was signed by Delhi. In 2014, he will once again play for Hyderabad edition after he was picked up by them during the 2014 auction for 55 lakhs.