Gautam Gambhir blames selectors for Ambati Rayudu’s decision to retire

Ambati Rayudu, once Indian team’s answer to their no.4 conundrum, announced his retirement from all forms of the game and informed the BCCI about the same in an email. Many of the former cricketers feel that the fact that he was snubbed for the ongoing World Cup 2019, was the major reason behind his decision to call it quits.

Rayudu, himself has not revealed any specific reason for his retirement, but the news that Mayank Agarwal was chosen as the replacement for the injured Vijay Shankar might have been the last straw for the Hyderabad batsman. Former India captain Gautam Gambhir feels the same and has come out in Rayudu’s support. Earlier Rishabh Pant was chosen to replace injured Shikhar Dhawan, who also made his World Cup debut ahead of Dinesh Karthik.

Incidentally, Ambati Rayudu was poised to go into the tournament with his amazing performances in ODIs in 2018 at no.4. But a dwindling form in 2019 and rise of Vijay Shankar as an all-rounder option meant that the selectors went for the Tamil Nadu player when the 15-member India squad was announced for ICC mega event. Rayudu was named as the reserve batsman to be called upon in case of injuries.

However, when Shikhar Dhawan got injured, he was replaced by Rishabh Pant and was snubbed for the second time in case of Shankar. Gautam Gambhir, according to the Times of India was quoted saying as, “According to me, the selectors have been a complete disappointment this World Cup. Rayudu’s retirement decision is because of them and their decision-making skills are to be blamed for this.”

“Five selectors combined would not have made the runs Rayudu has in his career. I feel extremely sad about this retirement,” Gambhir lashed out at the selectors for not backing their decision. He further mentioned that Mayank and Rishabh got selected ahead of Rayudu and he is bound to feel bad. For a player with three centuries and 10 half-centuries for his nation in international cricket, to retire in this way, Gambhir felt was a sad moment for Indian cricket.

The right-handed batsman scored 1,694 runs at an average of 47.05 with a top score of 124* in the 55 ODIs he played for India. In six T20Is, Ambati Rayudu scored 42 runs at an average of 10.50. Besides, he also played 97 first-class matches in which he amassed 6,151 runs. He represented Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh in domestic cricket, while he played for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in Indian Premier League.