New Delhi: Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu on Wednesday announced his retirement from all international formats of cricket after not being picked twice as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar.
Rayudu was not a part of India's original 15-member squad for the World Cup 2019 and all-rounder Vijay Shankar was picked over him. But then the injuries to opener Shikhar Dhawan and Shankar left the door open for the selectors to pick Rayudu as a possible replacement. The BCCI selectors, however, chose to send Rishabh Pant as a replacement for Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal for Shankar.
Rayudu has played 55 ODIs for India, scoring 1694 runs at an average of 47.05 with three hundred and 10 half-centuries. He also featured in six T20 internationals and made 42 runs in them.
Chief selector MSK Prasad had stated that Shankar's 3-dimensional qualities made them pick him over Rayudu, who wasn't too happy with the decision.
On this, he tweeted, “Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup.”
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But then the injuries to opener Shikhar Dhawan and Shankar left the door open for the selectors to pick Rayudu as a possible replacement. Rayudu was even in the standbys list along with Rishabh Pant for the World Cup.
The BCCI selectors, however, decided to send Rishabh Pant as a replacement for Dhawan (thumb fracture) and Mayank Agarwal for Shankar, who injured his toe during practice. These could have been the reasons behind Rayudu's immediate retirement, even though the cricketer himself hasn't stated any reasons for the decision yet.
Interestingly, the World Cup snubs gave Iceland Cricket the opportunity to troll Rayudu when they offered him permanent residency after Mayank Agarwal was named as Vijay Shankar's official replacement in the Indian squad on Monday.
Iceland Cricket put out a tongue-in-cheek tweet on Tuesday about how Mayank, who is the latest member to join the Indian team in England, has only three professional wickets at 72.33 and that Rayudu could play for them instead.
Iceland Cricket tweeted, “Agarwal has three professional wickets at 72.33 so at least @RayuduAmbati can put away his 3D glasses now. He will only need normal glasses to read the document we have prepared for him. Come join us Ambati. We love the Rayudu things. #BANvIND #INDvBAN #CWC19
Iceland Cricket also tweeted out the application form for permanent residency in Iceland if the Indian batter intended to take them up on their offer.
"Agarwal has three professional wickets at 72.33 so at least Ambati Rayudu can put away his 3D glasses now. He will only need normal glasses to read the document we have prepared for him. Come join us Ambati. We love the Rayudu things," tweeted Iceland Cricket.