Former Chief selector admits the mistake of not picking Ambati Rayudu in 2019 World Cup

Former Indian batsman and chief selector Devang Gandhi has opened on the challenges they face while choosing the squads as per everyone’s preferences. The discussion also moved around the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, who missed the upcoming Australia tour and Ambati Rayudu’s omission in the 2019 World Cup squad. Gandhi agreed completely that the exclusion of star batsman Rayudu from the 2019 WC squad was inappropriate. Back then, India was struggling to find their suitable men for no four position.

The Men in Blue finished on the top spot during the league stage and were looking in the best action to lift the trophy. However, the tables turned completely in semi finals against New Zealand as the top order had a rare off day at the office. Rayudu was showing some promising and consistent form, but was ignored from the marquee event. Vijay Shankar was instead given a chance in the mega tournament who didn’t even play all the matches as the rotation kept on going for the fourth batting slot.

Rayudu displayed some stellar form in IPL 2020 yet again, and it had made critics think that their World Cup 2019 squad decision was wrong somewhere. Gandhi stated that when they picked the squad in last year’s WC, they thought they got it right. However, it was realised later that Ambati’s selection might have helped them sort their middle-order woes. The former selector added that the 35-year-old batsman had all the rights to feel frustrated and take a dig at selectors. He even announced his retirement post his omission from the WC’19 squad.

I can understand Ambati Rayudu’s angst and reactions were justified: Gandhi

“Yes, that was a mistake, but then we are humans too. At that time we seemed to have hit the right combination, but later we realised Rayudu’s presence might have helped. Actually, India had one bad day in office during the World Cup, and that’s why Rayudu’s absence became such a big talking point. Apart from that one match, India had an excellent tournament. I can understand Rayudu’s angst and his reactions were justified,” stated Gandhi as quoted by The Times of India.