Ambati Rayudu: “It has been a honour and privilege to have represented our country”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
India batsman Ambati Rayudu has announced his retirement from “all forms and levels” of cricket after he was twice snubbed for the ongoing World Cup.
Rayudu had been one of the five standby players for the tournament, but after opener Shikhar Dhawan and all-rounder Vijay Shankar were ruled out of the World Cup.
Dhawan sustained a hairline fracture in his left thumb, while Shankar was diagnosed with a fractured big left toe.
Rishabh Pant was called up to replace Dhawan, while Mayank Agarwal took Shankar’s spot in India’s World Cup squad.
Frustrated at having been overlooked twice, Rayudu decided to bring his career to an end just a day after India qualified for the World Cup semi-finals.
“I would like to bring to your kind notice that I have come to decision to step away from the sport and retire from all forms and levels of the game,” Rayudu wrote in an email to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as quoted by news18.com. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the BCCI and all the state associations that I have represented which include Hyderabad, Baroda, Andhra and Vidharbha. I also would like to thank the two IPL franchises MI and CSK for their support. It has been a honour and privilege to have represented our country.
“I would like to thank the captains I have played under, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and especially Virat kohli who always had shown great belief in me throughout my career with the Indian team. It has been a wonderful journey of playing the sport and learning from every up and down it brought up on for the last 25 years at various different levels. Finally I would like to thank my family and all the wellwishers who have been with me throughout this wonderful journey.”
In October last year, India captain Virat Kohli felt that Rayudu was the right person to occupy the number four spot in the team.
However, by mid-January this year, Kohli’s confidence in Rayudu seemed to have decreased as he said that India were still on the lookout for someone to fill the number four position.
Rayudu represented India in 55 ODIs, where he scored 1,694 runs, which included three centuries and 10 fifties, at an average of 47.05. He also took three wickets at an average of 41.33.
He also featured in six Twenty20 Internationals and accumulated 42 runs at an average of 10.50.