MSK Prasad reveals the reason behind leaving Ambati Rayudu out of India's World Cup squad

The BCCI announced the Indian squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019 which will be played in England and Wales from May 30. The 15-member squad saw some surprise inclusions and exclusions as the chief selector MSK Prasad gave apt reasons for the same as well.

He had previously admitted that there were only a few spots open in the Indian squad with options for the batsman at the no.4 spot, backup opener, and backup wicketkeeper. Well, the team sees Dinesh Karthik edging out Rishabh Pant for the backup wicketkeeper spot and KL Rahul being picked as the backup opener to Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.

But a bigger issue was Ambati Rayudu‘s non-inclusion, who before the start of the Australia ODI series at home, had almost cemented the no.4 spot in the Indian team and was almost certain to go to England and Wales. However, in a bizarre turn of events, Vijay Shankar was chosen in his place and Rayudu was left to ponder what could have been.

Shankar brings three dimensions

Team India’s No. 4 conundrum in the 50-over format has been a topic of discussion for some time now and the selectors showed faith on Shankar after trying few players for the spot. The BCCI chief of selectors MSK Prasad was asked the question about not picking Ambati Rayudu for the no.4 spot in the World Cup, despite giving him a decently long run at the spot.

“After the Champions Trophy, we tried quite a few people at No.4. We gave a few more chances to Rayudu. What Vijay Shankar brings is three dimensional. We are looking at him at no. 4 to begin with,” the chief selector said while addressing the media.

Team India’s squad for ICC World Cup 2019:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami.

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