Ever since KL Rahul’s promotion to the top order, the Indian cricket team’s World Cup campaign has been plagued with the long-standing conundrum of the batsman at number 4. Though Rishabh Pant was flown in to England to replace an injured Dhawan, he was given chance in place of Vijay Shankar, who was tried at the number 4 position for the initial few matches. After Vijay Shankar’s ouster from the World Cup, apparently because of his toe injury, the BCCI has now sent Mayank Agarwal in his place, ignoring Ambati Rayudu.
Amidst this, the flamboyant middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu who had been listed in the reserves prior to the World Cup has announced his retirement from the international cricket without offering any reason for his decision. He also added that he won’t be playing in the Indian Premier League and is open for playing in the other T20 leagues abroad.
Rayudu had been spurned by the BCCI twice after two of the original members of the Indian cricket team sustained injuries in the ongoing tournament. Earlier, Rayudu had expressed his displeasure and mocked the chief selector for his statement defending the selection of Vijay Shankar over him.
Rayudu sent a letter to the Hyderabad Cricket Association informing about his decision and HCS forwarded the same to the BCCI. Rayudu wrote in the letter, “Respected sir, I would like to bring to your kind notice that I have come to decision to step away from the sport and retire from all forms and levels of the game.”
The decision to quit international cricket from Rayudu comes at a time when the Iceland cricket has offered Rayudu permanent residency in their country so that he can play for them after he was once again ignored for a World Cup spot in the Indian team. Iceland Cricket had tweeted about their offer to Rayudu on July 1, referring to his April 16 Tweet where the cricketer had stated that he has ordered a new set of 3D glasses to watch the world cup. They mentioned that they have prepared the documents for Rayudu, and invited him to join them.offer
Agarwal has three professional wickets at 72.33 so at least @RayuduAmbati can put away his 3D glasses now. He will only need normal glasses to read the document we have prepared for him. Come join us Ambati. We love the Rayudu things. #BANvIND #INDvBAN #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/L6XAefKWHw
— Iceland Cricket (@icelandcricket) July 1, 2019
The BCCI has chosen Mayank Agarwal ahead of Ambati Rayudu to replace injured Vijay Shankar for the position at number 4. Although Agarwal has appeared for India in test matches as an opener and not as a number 4 batsman.
