Ambati Rayudu perfomed in the Asian Cup last year. (Source: File) Ambati Rayudu perfomed in the Asian Cup last year. (Source: File)

After being passed over despite two Indian players sustaining injuries at the World Cup, batsman Ambati Rayudu announced his retirement from cricket. Rayudu was listed in the reserves for the Indian cricket team prior to the World Cup.

The middle-order batsman has not stated the reason for his retirement yet. He has also said that he will not play in the Indian Premier League and is open to playing in other T20 leagues abroad.

An official from the Indian cricket board told PTI that he has communicated his decision to the BCCI.

“We received his mail in the morning. He did not specify why he is retiring. It was a pretty straightforward e-mail in which he thanked all the captains he played (under) and also the BCCI,” the official said.

In the email, Rayudu wrote, “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,” he wrote.

In the 50 ODI innings that he has played, Rayudu 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.

In the IPL, Rayudu has played since 2010 and has played for the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. He played 147 matches in which he scored 3300 runs. His high score in the tournament has been 100 not out, and he scored at an average of 28.69. His strike rate was 125.95 and he scored 18 fifties over the years.

Overlooked for World Cup

At the World Cup, after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of games due to a thumb injury, the Indian team management had opted to fly in Rishabh Pant. After all-rounder Vijay Shankar was ruled out due to a toe fracture, Mayank Agarwal was picked.

Rayudu had been trolled on social media after Agarwal was picked to join the Indian squad. Earlier, the batsman had questioned the selectors’ decision to pick Shankar over him with a tweet that mocked a statement by the head selector.

In a bizarre tweet on Tuesday, Iceland cricket offered Rayudu permanent residency in their country so that he can play for them after he was once again passed over.

However, an article written after Shankar was replaced by Agarwal pointed out that the “decision to replace a middle-order batsman with an opener exposes India’s batting uncertainties. It highlights the cluttered mindset of the Indian team management struggling to get its batting order right. Injuries and loss of form are factors responsible for India unsure about how plays where.”

“That Agarwal has been preferred over Ambati Rayudu – he was an official stand-by – attests this vulnerability; that the team management wants someone who can double up as the third opener. Agarwal made his Test debut in Australia last year and took to the long-form like a duck to water. He is uncapped in white-ball internationals, but his List A strike-rate, north of 100, inspires confidence,” the column noted.

In a profile of Rayudu written after he was not picked for the World Cup squad, Sriram Veera had noted: “Frank, honest, emotional, competitive, impulsive, at times self-destructive, short-tempered, shy, loyal—a roller coaster of traits has been attributed to Rayudu. He is at a crucial moment in his career, yet again. Just as he was reaching out to his biggest dream of playing for India in a World Cup, his hands have closed on thin air.”

He also noted that “people who know him well say he will come out firing on the field. There is no doubt that his temper has got him into a few situations—from a road-side traffic brawl to fights with umpires, at times team-mates, but above all, the things that several of his team-mates remember is his innate goodness and how quickly his temper dies down.”

Note: An earlier version of the article said that Rayudu will be playing in the IPL

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