Former Chief Selector Admits The ‘Mistake’ Of Not Picking Ambati Rayudu in 2019 World Cup

Former Indian batsman and chief selector Devang Gandhi has recently admitted that ‘dropping Ambati Rayudu from T20 World Cup squad’ was inappropriate.

Before the ODI World Cup 2019, when the ODI series was played between India-West Indies on Indian soil, during the World Cup, Virat Kohli announced that Ambati Rayudu will play the number four batsman for India. It was only then that Ambati Rayudu was dropped from the team in the cricket series to be held in India against Australia, just before the World Cup played in England.

Ambati was, of course, dropped from the team at that time against Australia, but many believed that he could be selected in the World Cup squad as the team management liked him, but when the team for the ODI World Cup 2019 was announced, the selection committee led by MSK Prasad instead selected Vijay Shankar in the team due to his all-round ability.

Ambati Rayudu had also announced his retirement after this decision of the selection committee of the Indian cricket team. Now that selection committee member Devang Gandhi has revealed that the decision to drop Ambati Rayudu from the team was ‘inappropriate’.

In fact, India lost in the semi-finals in the ODI World Cup 2019 and after that, there was a lot of discussion about Ambati Rayudu and there was a fierce debate on his not being included in the team. Gandhi said that Ambati’s displeasure and the reaction he gave was also justified. Vijay Shankar, who was included in the team in place of Ambati Rayudu, did not perform very well in the World Cup.

I Can Understand Ambati Rayudu’s Angst And Reactions Were Justified: Devang Gandhi

“Yes, that was a mistake, but then we are humans too. At that time we seemed to have hit the right combination, but later we realised Rayudu’s presence might have helped. Actually, India had one bad day in office during the World Cup, and that’s why Rayudu’s absence became such a big talking point. Apart from that one match, India had an excellent tournament. I can understand Rayudu’s angst and his reactions were justified,” stated Gandhi as quoted by The Times of India.