“Had They Picked Ajinkya Rahane…”: Ambati Rayudu On 2019 World Cup Snub Fiasco – Report

The 2019 ODI World Cup saw the Board of Control for Cricket in India selection committee draw plenty of criticism after Ambati Rayudu was snubbed for a spot in the team, in favour of ‘3D player’ Vijay Shankar. Rayudu’s reaction on social media to the news added fuel to the fire, and the veteran batter never played for India again. After bringing an end to his cricketing career, Rayudu has finally opened up on the controversy, confirming that he had nothing personal against Shankar but couldn’t understand the logic behind his selection as he was a player who batted at No. 6 or No. 7 position, and not No. 4.

In an interview with TV9 Telugu, Rayudu said that he would’ve been content had the selectors picked someone like Ajinkya Rahane, a specialist batter in the middle-order, and not Shankar who was a player that belonged to a different category.

“See if they would have picked someone like Rahane or any similar ilk of a player or someone who is experienced and senior it would have been understandable. Everyone wants India to win. They have not picked me for whatever reason which only they would know. But when you replace me with someone it should be helpful to the team as well. That is where I got angry. It was not about Vijay Shankar. What could have he done? He was playing his cricket. Whatever the thinking behind I could not understand. I could not understand if they were playing a World Cup or a normal league match,” Rayudu said.

“Team selection is not the work of one person. Like, there are some people in team management, may be because of them. Like there used to be one gentleman in Hyderabad. Maybe they didn’t like me or some incidents from the past may have caused them to look at me differently. So my career became like a cycle of these kind of people showing up,” he further said.

Talking about his viral ‘3D glasses’ tweet, the former Chennai Super Kings batter said, “Everyone went after Vijay Shankar. I did not have that intention. I could not understand their thinking and logic. If you have decided to replace me, you could have picked a similar player. How can you pick a player who plays numbers 6 and 7 and put him at 4? I don’t have anything personal against Vijay Shankar and MSK Prasad. I have played in New Zealand before the World Cup in similar conditions. I have been preparing well. Only those people can answer what went on.”