Ambati Rayudu You Are A Top Man, Says Virat Kohli
Updated - 04 Jul 2019, 09:13 PM
The way the last couple of months panned out for Ambati Rayudu, it seems like he fell out of favour with India skipper Virat Kohli and others. The reasons for the same are pretty much obvious. Rayudu was a shocking omission from India’s World Cup squad. Rayudu was groomed as India’s No four batsman since he made his comeback to the team during the Asia Cup last year.
The right-handed batsman put up some good performances in the Asia Cup and against the likes of West Indies, New Zealand and Australia. However, one poor series against Australia home perhaps costed him his place in the World Cup squad. His misfortune was compounded by the sudden rise of Vijay Shankar.
The Tamil Nadu allrounder impressed with both bat and ball in a short span of time and made it to the squad. At the time of squad announcement, chief selector MSK Prasad had said that Shankar was preferred of Rayudu because of his three-dimensional qualities. A miffed Rayudu had then hit back at the selectors by mocking their decisions.
It was perhaps the last nail in the coffin of Rayudu’s international career. He made it to the standby list but India did not call him even after two batsmen were injured. Instead, India picked Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal to replace Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar respectively. And just a day after Mayank Agarwal’s inclusion in the team, Rayudu left everyone shocked by retiring from international cricket.
The turn of events have suggested that Rayudu has fallen out of favour with the team-management. However, Virat Kohli’s tweet suggests otherwise. The India skipper took to Twitter to call Rayudu a top man and wished him well, writing:
“Wish you the best going forward Ambati. You’re a top man ??? @RayuduAmbati”
Wish you the best going forward Ambati. You're a top man ???@RayuduAmbati
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) July 3, 2019
Rayudu, meanwhile, will continue to play in the Indian Premier League. Last year, he had also announced his retirement from first-class cricket.
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India National Cricket Team Virat Kohli
