MUMBAI: Team India discard Ambati Rayudu on Wednesday announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.
Rayudu will continue playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rayudu has already retired from first-class cricket.
Rayudu was not included in the initial 15-member squad of Team India for the ICC World Cup 2019. All-rounder Vijay Shankar was included in place of Rayudu.
But then the injuries to opener Shikhar Dhawan and Shankar left the door open for the selectors to call up Rayudu as a possible replacement. However, BCCI decided to choose Rishabh Pant as a replacement for Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal as a replacement for Shankar.
This is said to have been the reasons behind Rayudu’s decision of immediate retirement.
In a related development retired cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir lashed out at the selection panel over the Rayudu episode, terming it a sad moment for Indian cricket.
“A cricketer like him that has played so well in the IPL and for the nation, scored three 100’s and ten 50’s, and despite that if a player has to retire – it is a sad moment for Indian cricket,” Gambhir was quoted as saying during the pre-match show of the England vs New Zealand league fixture on Wednesday.
Gambhir further went on to say that the five-member selection panel combined cannot score the amount of runs Rayudu has scored for the country.
“Five selectors combined would not have made the runs Rayudu has in his career. I feel extremely sad about this retirement. Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal got selected amidst the World Cup injuries, and anyone in Rayudu’s place would have felt equally bad,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir further called the selectors a complete “disappointment”.
“According to me, the selectors have been a complete disappointment this World Cup. Rayudu’s retirement decision is because of them and their decision-making skills are to be blamed for this,” Gambhir said.
Declared the preferred No.4 batsman by captain Virat Kohli not many months ago, Rayudu was ignored as Vijay Shankar got the nod in India’s final squad for the big event.
Rayudu reacted on his omission with a sarcastic tweet that he would watch the World Cup wearing 3D glasses, in an obvious reference to chief selector MSK Prasad’s defence of Vijay Shankar’s selection.
Prasad had said that the Tamil Nadu player brings three dimensions to the table – as a middle order batsman who could bowl at medium pace and is also a handy fielder – and that was the reason he got the nod ahead of Rayudu.
Meanwhile, IANS reports that that despite naming Rayudu as a batting reserve when the selectors — led by MSK Prasad — announced the 15-member squad for the showpiece event and to then ignore him and fly in Mayank has raised questions as to what made the national selectors change their mind.
Speaking to IANS, sources in the know of developments said that the call to pick Mayank and not Rayudu was in fact made by the team management and not the five-member selection panel.
“The team management had made it clear that they wanted Mayank as replacement for the injured Shankar. There was no question of the selectors debating that,” the source said.
Rayudu has played 55 ODIs for India, scoring 1694 runs at an average of 47.05 with three hundreds and 10 half-centuries. He also featured in six T20 internationals and made 42 runs in them.
