‘It wasn’t against Vijay Shankar’: Emotional Ambati Rayudu hits out against ‘Hyderabadi person’ in team management in 2019

Ambati Rayudu who recently announced his retirement after helping Chennai Super Kings clinch their 5th Indian Premier League title, opened up about his career in an interview with TV9 Telugu. Without taking names, but just mentioning their designations, he detailed his problems with the India selector MSK Prasad, a “Hyderabadi person” in Indian “team management” during the 2019 ODI world cup, and earlier in Hyderabad cricket with Shivlal Yadav. Rayudu, who was not selected for the 2019 World Cup squad in favour of Vijay Shankar, had posted a tweet as a jibe on the then chief selector M S K Prasad who had said that Shankar was brought in due to his “three-dimensional” aspect. After that Rayudu posted a tweet: “Just ordered a new set of 3D glasses to watch the world cup”.“A team selection is not done an individual. Even if he deliberately wanted to or not, there are many other factors. There were certain people in team management. There was one Hyderabadi person. There were some instances when I was young when we did not get along. Small things which I did not like about them and some they did not like about me. And they have been built over a period of time. These were the same people I have dealt with for my entire career in a cycle,” Rayudu said in the interview.
Rayudu’s troubles in domestic cricket had started in the 2004-05 season. Shivlal Yadav, former India player, was the Hyderabad secretary and his brother Rajesh Yadav was the Hyderabad coach.
He entered that year on the back of a healthy 45.55 average the previous season and a stupendous run for India A in Kenya , where he averaged 152. Things were looking bright. Then, suddenly, the lights went out. He averaged 11.92 that year from 13 innings, with 36 as the highest score.
Following problems with the management, Rayudu moved to Andhra the next season, where MSK Prasad was the captain.
Delving further into the details, he said, “In 2005, I went to play for Andhra. There were many problems with the Hyderabad secretary at the time. His brother was the coach and his son was the captain of the Hyderabad team. Things were not going well at the time here.
“I went to Andhra and MSK Prasad was the captain of that side. Because of him, I did not face any issues there. But I did not like some of his methods so I returned to Hyderabad. The way he saw the game and the things he did at that age I did not like.”
Fast forward to 2019 world cup team selection. Rayudu said that he had gotten the news of his non selection after he had de-boarded from a flight with his IPL teammates.
“I was on a flight that day. There have been indications that I would not be picked then. But then we did not have the full picture. It was during the IPL and we were travelling from one place to another. As soon as I got off the flight and switched on the phone, I received several messages and saw news. Then I realised I wasn’t in the team. I was on stand and it was very disappointing at the time. I wanted to play for India and participate in the World Cup,” the former CSK player said.
“See if they would have picked someone like Rahane or any similar ilk of a player or someone who is experienced and senior it would have been understandable. Everyone wants India to win. They have not picked me for whatever reason which only they would know. But when you replace me with someone it should be helpful to the team as well. That is where I got angry. It was not about Vijay Shankar. What could have he done? He was playing his cricket. Whatever the thinking behind I could not understand. I could not understand if they were playing a World Cup or a normal league match,” he added.
Talking about the 3D glass tweet, he said, “Everyone went after Vijay Shankar. I did not have that intention. I could not understand their thinking and logic. If you have decided to replace me, you could have picked a similar player. How can you pick a player who plays numbers 6 and 7 and put him at 4? I don’t have anything personal against Vijay Shankar and MSK Prasad. I have played in New Zealand before the World Cup in similar conditions. I have been preparing well. Only those people can answer what went on.”
Rayudu’s final international record was nowhere near what India expected of him. In 55 ODIs, he scored 1,694 runs, including three centuries, at an average of 47.05. His score-sheet also shows 42 runs in six T20 Internationals, and 6,151 runs with 16 hundred in 97 first-class matches for Hyderabad, Andhra, Baroda and Vidarbha.