Former Indian spinner Anil Kumble felt it was a huge blunder to have left out Ambati Rayudu from India’s squad for the ODI World Cup 2019 in England.
Rayudu, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of Indian cricket including the Indian Premier League, finished his career on a high as an IPL legend, having won the trophy six times. He played a crucial knock in CSK’s win in the IPL 2023 final.
Rayudu remained an underutilized player
Riding on his performances from IPL 2013, Rayudu made his debut for the Indian cricket team against Zimbabwe that year. He was also a part of the 2015 World Cup squad but he didn’t get the opportunity to play.
In 2018, he made a comeback in Team India but was again ignored by the Indian selectors for the Indian squad for the ODI World Cup in 2019. Vijay Shankar was preferred over Rayudu. Former chief selector MSK had opined that Vijay was a ‘3D player’ and this prompted Rayudu to put out a controversial tweet, that read: “Just ordered a new set of 3D glasses to watch the World Cup”.
Despite playing 55 ODIs and six T20Is for India, Rayudu couldn’t cement a place in the playing XI. Unfortunately, Rayudu never got an opportunity to play again for the Indian side. Throughout his career, Rayudu remained an underutilized player.
Anil Kumble Slammed Virat Kohli And Ravi Shastri
Meanwhile, India bowling legend Kumble feels it was a ‘blunder’ to not have included Rayudu in the Indian squad for ODI World Cup 2019. He reckoned that it was a huge miss on the then-captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri’s part to omit Rayudu.
Speaking on Jio Cinema when the Indian Premier League 2023 final was stalled due to rain after the Gujarat Titans innings, Kumble had said:
“Rayudu should have played the 2019 World Cup. Oh yes, there’s no doubt about it. It was a huge blunder. You prepared him for that role for so long and his name just disappears from the squad. It was surprising nonetheless,”
