Ambati Rayadu was not picked in the Indian cricket team for the World Cup last year despite having a good batting average. This raised quite a few eyebrows in the cricketing circuit, with Rayadu himself stating that his last-minute exclusion from the team upset him, after which he had temporarily announced his retirement.
Former Indian selector MSK Prasad spoke about Rayadu’s omission, stating that he felt bad for Rayadu’s exit from the Indian cricket team and revealed that Rayadu had been picked in the ODI team before the World Cup on the basis of his IPL performance. The selection committee had kept Rayadu’s fitness factor in mind, but unluckily he could not be selected for the World Cup team.
Sportstar quoted Prasad as saying,
“I felt seriously for Rayudu. I can clearly say that. It was very touching and go issue. Our committee always felt that he should be on the radar of Test selection after the 2016 Zimbabwe tour. And I spoke to him as to why he was not focussing on Test cricket. If you remember, based on the IPL performances, we picked him for ODIs, which may not look appropriate to many.”
He went on to say,
“Then, we focussed on his fitness for one month at the NCA, helped him there. He has delivered to an extent. Unfortunately, I am also hurt at what happened to him (referring to the 2019 World Cup selection when Rayudu was ignored), having played with him. I feel bad for him,”
The right-handed cricketer has played a cumulative 55 ODIs for India, with ten half-centuries and three hundred to his name. Rayadu has scored 1694 runs for India, with an average of 47.05.
The former chief selector also stated that India’s form during the England and South Africa tours were a big disappointment during his tenure, along with the 2019 World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand.
“Personally, the disappointments were the South Africa and England tours. Though the boys played well, the end result was not satisfying. Or, we can say our team was capable of a much better performance. Well, as far as the 2019 World Cup was concerned, we played like champions but for that one-off day in the semi-final,”
