Rayudu speaks on 2019 World Cup snub: ‘Could not understand their thinking and logic’

Ambati Rayudu’s non-selection for the 2019 ODI World Cup and all-rounder Vijay Shankar replacing him for the tournament was the biggest headline maker when the team for the mega event came out in that year.

Rayudu played 21 matches between 2018 and 2019 as India looked at him to be their No 4 batter for the World Cup but surprisingly he was not picked for the World Cup by the MSK Prasad-led selection committee.

The middle-order batter retired from international cricket after the selection snub and recently retired from all forms of cricket after guiding Chennai Super Kings to the IPL 2023 title.

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The former CSK batter has now opened up on his controversial snub for the 2019 ODI World Cup. Rayudu said that he was surprised to see the selectors pick a lower-order batter as his replacement in an interview with TV9 Telugu.

He added that some personal issues with someone in the team management may have cost him his place.

“See if they would have picked someone like Rahane or any similar ilk of a player or someone who is experienced and senior it would have been understandable. Everyone wants India to win. They have not picked me for whatever reason which only they would know. But when you replace me with someone it should be helpful to the team as well. That is where I got angry. It was not about Vijay Shankar. What could have he done? He was playing his cricket. Whatever the thinking behind I could not understand. I could not understand if they were playing a World Cup or a normal league match,” Rayudu said.

“Team selection is not the work of one person. Like, there are some people in team management, may be because of them. Like there used to be one gentleman in Hyderabad. Maybe they didn’t like me or some incidents from the past may have caused them to look at me differently. So my career became like a cycle of these kind of people showing up.”

Talking about his viral ‘3D glasses’ tweet, Rayudu said, “Everyone went after Vijay Shankar. I did not have that intention. I could not understand their thinking and logic. If you have decided to replace me, you could have picked a similar player. How can you pick a player who plays numbers 6 and 7 and put him at 4? I don’t have anything personal against Vijay Shankar and MSK Prasad. I have played in New Zealand before the World Cup in similar conditions. I have been preparing well. Only those people can answer what went on.”

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