It has been an honour and privilege to have represented India: Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu decided to call it quits from all forms of the game on Wednesday. The decision came only a couple of days after Mayank Agarwal was named Vijay Shankar‘s replacement ahead of him. Rather Agarwal was not even in the standby list and was still preferred. Moreover, Rayudu was also ignored when Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out as Rishabh Pant flew to England.

He informed the BCCI about his retirement in a formal mail and also went on to mention that it was an absolute honour to represent the country at the highest level. Despite making his international debut in 2013, the 33-year-old went on to play only 55 ODIs and 6 T20 Internationals for India. This World Cup was his greatest chance to end his career on a high but was dropped from the squad following a string of low scores.

Moreover, after being ignored twice, the disappointed Rayudu might have decided to hang his boots from all forms of the game. He will not play in the IPL as well now and not even in the first-class cricket where he represented different teams during his career.

Rayudu thanks Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit for the support

In a mail written to the BCCI, Ambati Rayudu thanked the board and all the state associations for giving him the opportunity. He also mentioned the names of the captains he played under and was grateful for them as well for showing immense belief in him. He also thanked the IPL franchises Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings for whom he played in the tournament.

“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. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the BCCI and all the state associations that I have represented which include Hyderabad, Baroda,Andhra and Vidarbha. I also would like to thank the two ipl franchises MI and CSK for their support. 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 well-wishers who have been with me throughout this wonderful journey” the mail read.