Ambati Rayudu has announced his retirement from red-ball cricket | Photo Credit: PTI

Ambati Rayudu has announced his retirement from the longest format of the game. The right-handed batsman will not be playing red-ball cricket for his state from now and will be missing the ongoing Ranji Trophy. Rayudu made it to the Test squad for the series against South Africa and New Zealand in 2013/14 season but did not make it to the playing XI. He was later dropped from the side and didn't make his comeback. At present, Rayudu is the fixed member of the side at number 4 position in ODIs and holds strong chances of keeping the position till 2019 World Cup.

"I will continue to play international and domestic matches of the shorter version. And, I take this opportunity to thank the BCCI, HCA, Baroda Cricket Association and also Vidarbha Cricket Association for giving me the opportunities over the years. It has always been an honour to play for Hyderabad and I can never forget the kind of support I got from all those here, including my fellow players, coaches and the officials. And especially, the way I was welcomed back into the BCCI fold after the stint in the rebel ICL," Rayudu said in his letter.

The experienced batsman made his comeback to the Indian team for the ODI series against England this year after he scored 602 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings. However, he was dropped from the side after he failed the yo-yo test. Suresh Raina replaced him.

Rayudu cleared the test later and was recalled to the team for Asia Cup 2018, where India won the tournament under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. He retained his place for the West Indies series and scored 217 runs in four innings to further increase his chances of being India's number 4 in ODIs.

Rayudu has retired from days cricket after playing 97 first-class games in which he scored 6151 runs at an average of 45.56. He made his first-class debut way back 2001/02 season and played his last Ranji Trophy game against Assam in the previous season.