Former India international and Chennai Super Kings batsman Ambati Rayudu still has not come to terms with his omission from the 2019 World Cup squad as he once again slammed the Indian selectors from that time for selecting Vijay Shankar over him.
India were in need of a number 4 batter in the World Cup and after much deliberation, they went ahead and selected rookie Vijay Shankar over experienced Rayudu for his all-round abilities.
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While Rayudu clarified that he does not have any malice towards Shankar, he did criticise the selectors and claimed that their decision of not picking a specialist batsman like himself made no sense to him.
Speaking to TV9 Telegu, Rayudu 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.
Team selection is not the work of one person. Like, there are some people in team management, maybe because of them. Like there used to be one gentleman in Hyderabad. Maybe they didn't like me or some incidents from the past may have caused them to look at me differently. So my career became like a cycle of these kinds of people showing up.
He further added,
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.
The Men in Blue went on to lose in the semi-final against New Zealand and were knocked out of the World Cup for the second consecutive time from the last-four stage.
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India are now set to host the 2023 World Cup which begins on October 5.
