“It was a huge blunder,” Anil Kumble takes dig at management for ignoring Ambati Rayudu for 2019 World Cup

Rayudu was called to don the Indian jersey after his remarkable season in IPL 2013 and made his debut for the Men in Blue against Zimbabwe.

“It was a huge blunder,” Anil Kumble takes dig at management for ignoring Ambati Rayudu for 2019 World Cup

Ambati Rayudu, Anil Kumble

Ambati Rayudu hung his boots for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after the team’s victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) in the final of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday (May 29) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. After that announcement two hours before the start of the final, which was scheduled to take place on Sunday, the six-time IPL champion also brought an end to his professional career.

Rayudu was called to don the Indian jersey after his remarkable season in IPL 2013 and made his debut for the Men in Blue against Zimbabwe. He was also a part of the 2015 World Cup squad but did not play a single game and he struggled with poor form after that.

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In 2018, when he made a comeback to the Indian side after scoring 602 runs in IPL that year, he would have filled the No.4 spot in India’s playing XI for the 2019 World Cup. However, the management snubbed him for Vijay Shankar and did not include him even as a replacement. Because of this, former India head coach Anil Kumble opined that not including Rayudu in the squad was a huge blunder.

“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,” Kumble said on Jio Cinema when the IPL final on Reserve Day halted for a while after GT’s innings.

Related: “Ye zarur sochna,” Tushar Deshpande reveals what MS Dhoni said after CSK’s fifth IPL title win

Ambati Rayudu also announced his retirement in 2019

"It was a huge blunder," Anil Kumble takes indirect dig at Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri for ignoring Ambati Rayudu for 2019 World Cup
Ambati Rayudu

At one point during the 2019 World Cup, Rayudu announced his retirement but made a U-turn. But this time, in 2023, after making his third retirement announcement, he confirmed that he won’t take it back. And it was a perfect fairytale for him as he clinched his sixth IPL trophy, the third for CSK.

After his 2019 World Cup snub, Rayudu put a post on Twitter: “Just ordered a new set of 3D glasses to watch the World Cup“. This is posted after ex-chief selector MSK Prasad’s comment on Vijay Shankar being a 3D player. The 37-year-old last played for India in an ODI match against Australia in March 2019.

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