Ambati Rayudu retires from all-forms of cricket after World Cup snub
India batsman Ambati Rayudu has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after the double 2019 World Cup snub.
Rayudu was snubbed twice by the team management during the World Cup as Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal were chosen as replacements over the right-hander, who was in the stand-by list for the World Cup.
Earlier, his exclusion form the team altogether came as a massive surprise to many as he was touted as India's No.4 by none other than Virat Kohli after the Asia Cup 2018. Kohli had gone on to say that Rayudu is being looked at as India's No.4 and subsequently, he played most of the matches leading up to the tournament against New Zealand and Australia Down Under.
However, when the team was chosen, Rayudu, who had retired from red-ball cricket to focus on his white-ball career, was snubbed in place of Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar, who was being looked at as a '3D' cricketer.
Rayudu then took a dig at that statement with a cheeky social media post.
"Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup," he had tweeted at the time.
But, the opportunity to get him back cropped up after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the tournament but the team management decided to go ahead and replace the southpaw with Pant. Subsequently, Shankar was also reled out of the tournament and this time as well, Mayank, who was not in the scheme of things at all, was selected ahead of the experienced 33-year-old.
This perhaps could have prompted the Hyderabad to call it quits from international cricket.
The player is yet to make a formal announcement but a Board official told PTI that he has communicated his decision to the BCCI.
"He has told the Board," the official said.
Rayudu has played 55 ODIs for India and scored 1694 runs with three centuries and 10 half-centuries at an average of 47.05. He has also played six T20Is, scoring just 42 runs.
