Former India batsman, Venugopal Rao, has decided to miss the rest of the domestic season due to personal reasons. The experienced batsman was a part of Andhra Pradesh team for the season, but after two matches, he has decided to miss the rest of the season,
“The absence of Venugopal Rao will be felt by the team but we have to respect the feelings of the player who was former captain of Andhra Ranji Team and India International” Ch. Arun Kumar, the Secretary of the state association told Sportstar.
Coming to the Venugopal Rao, he switched his base to Andhra Pradesh before the start of the season. Before this, he played his last first-class game for Gujarat in the year 2015. His experience was much needed for the side after the exit of Mohammad Kaif a season ago, but with he also deciding to opt out, it has left this team searching for an experienced player again.
Venugopal Rao played a total of 16 ODIs for India, with his all the appearances coming in one year lasting from July 2005 to May 2006. He scored a total of 218 runs in 11 innings at an average of 24.22.
Though, he was a regular member of IPL and played for teams like Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad. He was also a member of the team that won the Under 19 World Cup 2000 under the leadership of Mohammad Kaif.
It is unsure whether he is thinking to retire from the game or would like to return in the next season.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh will play its third game of the season against Odisha in Vizag. In their first game of the season against Tamil Nadu, the Hanuma Vihari led side snared three points by gaining first innings lead over Abhinav Mukund-led Tamil Nadu. In their second game as well, Andhra snared three points under gaining first innings’ lead over Baroda.
However, on both the occasions, they missed a chance to earn full six points due to time constraint. In fact, they had a real chance of gaining seven points against Baroda but as said, the lack of time did not allow them to do so.
Andhra Pradesh is sitting at the second spot in the points table with a total of six points.