Ambati Rayudu Announces Retirement From International Cricket

Days after the heartbreaking snub from the World Cup squad, Ambati Rayudu has brought down curtains on his international career. Rayudu was in the standby list for the tournament but was ignored even after India replaced two players due to injury. India called up Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal in the team to replace Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar respectively.

Rayudu, who had announced his retirement from first-class cricket last year, did not reveal the reason behind his sudden decision. He, however, confirmed that he would continue playing in the Indian Premier League. The right-handed batsman has been plying his trade for Chennai Super Kings from the last two seasons.

Rayudu made a comeback to the Indian team during the Asia Cup last year and hit the ground running. He started off with a 60 against Hong Kong, followed by a couple of not-outs and a fifty against Afghanistan which resulted in a tie. His successful stint in the Asia Cup awarded him another chance in the West Indies series.

Rayudu scored 217 runs in 4 innings in the series which included a 100 and 73*. The best of Rayudu was yet to come. He played a match-winning inning of 90 on a tricky pitch of Wellington in the New Zealand series that followed. However, a poor series against Australia at home perhaps costed him the World Cup spot.

Things took a turn for the worse when Rayudu questioned the selectors’ decision to pick Shankar over him with a tweet. The middle-order batsman mocked a statement by the head selector. Overall, Rayudu represented India in 50 ODIs. He scored 1694 runs at an average of 47.05 with a top score of 124*. He has hit three centuries and 10 fifties and has a strike rate of 79.04. In the five T20Is innings that he has played, he has scored 42 runs at an average of 10.50.