Ambati Rayudu is once again in the centre of the news. Once again he has decided to move on from the game as he is tired due to the inside politics in Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA).
In 2019, Ambati Rayudu has come to the news headline due to various reason. It all begins from the selection of the 15-member Indian squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Before the CWC 2019, Ambati Rayudu was a regular member in the Indian ODI squad where his major duty was to bat at the no.4 position. However, he missed out the 15-member World Cup squad as the selectors felt that Vijay Shankar would be the better option for the no.4 batting position.
But, in that World Cup team selection, Ambati Rayudu was chosen for the stand-by position.
After getting dropped from the World Cup squad, Rayudu tweeted, “Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup”, in the reaction of chief selector MSK Prasad‘s “three-dimensional cricketer” comment on Vijay Shankar.
Despite two Indian players (Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar) were ruled out in the middle of the CWC 2019 tournament, the selectors didn’t add Ambati Rayudu in the World Cup team. Even the non-stand-by cricketer Mayank Agarwal earned the call-up in the World Cup team but Rayudu missed out that squad.
In early July, when India were busy in the CWC 2019, Ambati Rayudu announced his retirement from cricket. However, in less than two months of his retirement, Rayudu announced his return to the cricket in late August.
After returning to the cricket, Ambati Rayudu has played for Hyderabad in the domestic limited-overs tournaments. He played some good knocks in his return.
I felt very uncomfortable – Ambati Rayudu
Rayudu was looking forward to participating in the Ranji Trophy but he is fed up with the politics in the team. So, he has decided to not participate in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season.
He told Telangana Today, “In all honesty, I was looking forward to play for Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy this season. But unfortunately, the script did not go on the expected lines. There is a lot of politics in the team and the atmosphere was not conducive for good cricket. I felt very uncomfortable.”
Ambati Rayudu has also talked to the HCA President Mohammad Azharuddin. He feels that the HCA President should have initiated stronger measures.
Rayudu added, “I did have a talk with the president. He always said he was trying his best. But it never happened. I feel he should have initiated stronger measures but he did not do that. I feel there were more election promises and as a result, the game suffered.”
Ambati Rayudu believes that some players don’t deserve to play in this team. But due to the election promises, this unlikely incident is happening.
He said, “It hurt me a lot. A few players, who did not deserve to be in the team, were included in the team because of the election promises. If this happens, how can a team improve? My hands were tight (sic) for the playing eleven when it came to few players and they were untouchable during the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament.
“If you look at the team, some of the players are selected because of the influence of some club secretaries. Sometimes, merit takes a back seat. This is unfortunate. Rich, influential and politicians’ children get preferences in Hyderabad teams. This is a true fact. We have to stop this buck. Since someone had to speak out, I thought I should do this. This is how bad the system has become in HCA,”