Gautam Gambhir Calls Ambati Rayudu's Omission From WC Squad 'Disgusting'

When it comes to speaking his mind out, former India opener Gautam Gambhir never shies away from it. Gambhir is known for his bold on-your-face attitude and not even his own ex-teammates are spared from it. The legendary batsman has now taken a dig at Indian selectors for leaving out Ambati Rayudu from India’s 15-member ICC World Cup 2019. He termed Rayudu’s omission from the squad as “disgusting”.

Rayudu had 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.

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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. His matured innings got praised by skipper Virat Kohli who hinted that the headache for number four is finally over.

It was assumed that Ambati Rayudu could be flying to England the coming summer.

However, it all changed after the s home series against Australia. Rayudu collected just 33 runs in the three matches he played before being dropped.  What hurt his chances further was the impressive form of newcomer Vijay Shankar. The selectors then sprung a huge surprise by not naming Rayudu in the World Cup squad to make room for Shankar.

The decision, however, has not gone down well with Gautam Gambhir as he criticised it. The former cricketer said that Rayudu is being judged on the basis of his current IPL form.

“It is disgusting to see that he (Rayudu) is being judged more on his IPL form and less on his overall skill-set. I am not a big fan of statistics as they never tell the whole story,” Gautam Gambhir wrote in his exclusive column for The Times of India.

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Gambhir also questioned India’s decision of picking only three specialist seamers in English conditions.

“I must say I am surprised by the fact that we are going in with just three specialist fast bowlers. I tried to visit and then revisit this fact but I have still not been able to get my head around these selections. I have always believed that whatever be the format, it is the batsmen who set up the games and bowlers are the ones who win them. Therefore, I feel we are a little light in the fast-bowling department,” Gambhir wrote