After being passed over twice when two Indian players sustained injuries at the World Cup, batsman Ambati Rayudu on Wednesday announced his retirement from international cricket. Rayudu was listed in the reserves for the Indian cricket team prior to the World Cup.
The middle-order batsman has not stated the reason for his retirement yet and has added that he will not play in the Indian Premier League butis open to playing in other T20 leagues abroad.
In the 50 ODI innings that he has played, Rayudu scored 1694 runs at an average of 47.05 with a top score of 124*. He has hit three centuries and 10 fifties and has a strike rate of 79.04. In the five T20Is innings that he has played, he has scored 42 runs at an average of 10.50.
Rayudu was trolled heavily on social media after Mayank Aggarwal was opted to play in Vijay Shankar’s place, who was ruled out from the tournament due to a toe fracture. He had been already ruled out once before that, when the Indian team management decided to fly in Rishab Pant in place of Shikhar Dhawan.
Rayudu had also questioned the selectors’ decision to pick Shankar over him with a tweet that mocked a statement by the head selector.
However, his unexpected decision has come crashing down on fans, leaving many cricket enthusiasts devastated and surprised.
Many have come out on Twitter to lament the early loss of a young talent who had a promising cricketing career ahead of him. Others however, have not been so kind and are busy bidding Rayadu a farewell which they say he deserves.
Feeling absolutely sorry for @RayuduAmbati , a young man with a promising career denied of opportunities so many times that he gave up and quit international cricket. Hope we continue to see him rock in IPL & wish him all the luck for his future endeavours. #AmbatiRayudu— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRai) July 3, 2019
One tweet can lead to a retirement. For a few RTs, for appearing smart against a vindictive cricket board. What a sad end. #AmbatiRayudu— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) July 3, 2019
So Ambati Rayudu has retired from cricket. Poor guy, deserved to play this World Cup #Ambatirayudu— Manak Gupta (@manakgupta) July 3, 2019
What a premature end to a career marred by controversies, setbacks and lack of opportunities !! #Ambatirayudu s retirement highlights the importance of proper nurturing and handling of talents and behaviours !! A nice bloke often misunderstood. All the best @RayuduAmbati go well— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) July 3, 2019
What a premature end to a career marred by controversies, setbacks and lack of opportunities !! #Ambatirayudu s retirement highlights the importance of proper nurturing and handling of talents and behaviours !! A nice bloke often misunderstood. All the best @RayuduAmbati go well— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) July 3, 2019
This is how AMBATI RAYUDU waited for getting picked in team by BCCI#Ambatirayudu pic.twitter.com/5o92KOZ5Dc— Subham (@subhsays) July 3, 2019
From retiring from first class cricket to being India's No. 4 to not even being picked in the squad to being overlooked twice, all this in a span of 1 year has ultimately taken its toll. Rayudu is a fine example of a talent that could have been. Damn, I feel bad. #Ambatirayudu— Manya (@CSKian716) July 3, 2019
I feel sorry for this champion, he announced retirement from international Cricket. BCCI betrayed him by not selecting aft injury to Dhawan & Shankar. #Ambatirayudu #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/EoGi3FT0k1— Anil patil (@beingani10) July 3, 2019
I feel sorry for this champion, he announced retirement from international Cricket. BCCI betrayed him by not selecting aft injury to Dhawan & Shankar. #Ambatirayudu #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/EoGi3FT0k1— Anil patil (@beingani10) July 3, 2019
First not giving proper farewells to country's legends and now ruining careers.THATS @BCCI for you #Ambatirayudu— Vishal (@Vishal_0002) July 3, 2019
#ThankYouRayudu for all the memories you have given to us #MI fans. I can never forget your last ball SIX against KKR at Eden garden. Have a happy retirement! #Ambatirayudu pic.twitter.com/xCJzR5dGeM— R A T N I $ H (@LoyalSachinFan) July 3, 2019
Raydu snubbed Bcci with retirement call#Ambatirayudu pic.twitter.com/bGDWBSeObW— Akshay Sharma (@akshaygoutam7) July 3, 2019
News about #Ambatirayudu retirement is heart breaking.He is unluckiest cricketer.He was caption of India U19He played for ICL and was banned by BCCI for that.When BCCI recalled him, Age was not at his side.He had a dream to play in WC for India but was not included.— Chowkidar Nirav Modi (@niiravmodi) July 3, 2019
Ambati Rayudu announces retirement from all forms of cricket Probably the tweet on 3D glasses cost him his career #Ambatirayudu#WorldCup2019— Nishant Chaturvedi (@nishantchat) July 3, 2019
Day before the announcement was made, in a bizarre tweet, Iceland cricket on Tuesday offered Rayudu permanent residency in their country so that he can play for them after he was once again looked over for a World Cup spot in the Indian team.
Rayudu initially criticized the selectors for not picking him in India’s squad that travelled to England and was also not called up following injuries to and Vijay Shankar, with Pant and Agarwal selected instead of him.
Building on this, Iceland in a tweet said that Mayank Agarwal, who was the latest call up to the Indian team, only has three professional wickets at 72.33 and that Rayudu could play for them instead.
They did not stop here and further tweeted out the application form for permanent residency in Iceland if he intended to take them up on their offer.
