World Cup: Omitted from squad, Ambati Rayudu retires from cricket

Ignored for the ongoing World Cup, Indian middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu Wednesday retired from all forms of cricket without specifying his reasons for calling it quits, a BCCI official revealed.

The 33-year-old Andhra batsman was in the official standbys list for the big event in the UK but was ignored despite the injury-forced ouster of all-rounder Vijay Shankar.

Opener Mayank Agrawal was brought in on the team managements insistence and it is learnt, Rayudu was left quite disappointed by the turn of events.

The player is yet to make a formal announcement but a Board official told PTI that he has communicated his decision to the BCCI.

“We received his mail in the morning. He did not specify why he is retiring. It was a pretty straightforward e-mail in which he thanked all the captains he played (under) and also the BCCI,” the official said.

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Rayudu played 55 ODIs for India, scoring 1694 runs at an average of 47.05. The player, who could never break into the Test team, was in the spotlight before the World Cup.

Declared the preferred No.4 batsman by captain Virat Kohli not many months ago, Rayudu was ignored for Shankar in India’s final squad for the big event.

Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad had justified the move by saying that Shankar had “three-dimensional skills”. Shankar couldn’t make much of an impact and was eventually forced out by a toe injury.

Ambati Rayudu had taken a dig at Prasad’s 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. He was later put in the standbys list but wasn’t called.

Also read: World Cup: Rohit is the best ODI player around right now, says Kohli

The right-hander earned the reputation of being a temperamental player owing to several confrontations with fellow cricketers and even match officials in the domestic circuit. He retired from first-class cricket last year to focus on limited-overs format.

He played in the now defunct Indian Cricket League in 2007 which came in the way of his selection to the national side.

Eventually, he found himself among the 79 players, who were pardoned by the BCCI in 2009 for competing in the rebel league. He broke into the national ODI side in 2013 against Zimbabwe.

Once the IPL rolled out, Ambati Rayudu was picked by Mumbai Indians before also plying his trade with the Chennai Super Kings.

Last year, Rayudu hit the headlines after being handed a two-match ban for a verbal altercation with on-field umpires during the Syed Mughtaq Ali Trophy.