Former India batter Ambati Rayudu announced retirement from all forms of cricket after the end of 2023 season of Indian Premier League (IPL 2023). In his final outing as a player for CSK, Rayudu played a crucial innings for his team in IPL 2023 summit clash, scoring match-defining 19 runs off just 8 balls against Gujarat Titans. For the unversed, Rayudu had announced retirement via his official Twitter handle in last season of IPL, however, the swashbuckling batter took a U-turn following an intervention from CSK's management and went on to play IPL 2023 as the final tournament of his career.
Rayudu, who is counted among the best middle-order batters of the Indian team, had announced retirement back in 2019 after being ignored by selectors for 2019 ODI World Cup in England.
Rayudu's selection in the Indian team for 2019 ODI World Cup was considered almost certain but the selectors dropped a bombshell and stunned the cricketing world by replacing Rayudu with '3-D player' Vijay Shankar.
Breaking his silence on this controversy for the first time, Rayudu, in an exclusive conversation with TV9 Telugu revealed that he had issues with member of the selection committee at the time. "I had some issues with the member of the selection committee when I was playing with them in the early stages of my career, which might be one of the reasons why I was out of the team in World Cup 2019," Rayudu said.
Ambati Rayudu also revealed that he was asked by a BCCI official in 2018 to remain prepared for the ODI World Cup 2019. Back then, MSK Prasad was acting as the chief selector of the Indian cricket team when the national squad was picked for 2019 ODI World Cup.
Rayudu scored 4348 in 2013 IPL games, making him one of the highest run-scorers in the tournament. He is also one of the most successful players in IPL history, having won 6 IPL trophies alongside Rohit Sharma.
"When I went to CSK, I felt like I'm back at home. The most enjoyable phase of my career was with CSK," he added.