IPL 2019: 'Coincidence of the year' featuring Ambati Rayudu and Vijay Shankar

The selection of Vijay Shankar, the new number four for India in the World Cup came at the cost of omission of Ambati Rayudu who was seen as the front runner in the race for the number four spot. It was harsh for Rayudu to lose the spot to Shankar, who performed well in foreign conditions just before the World Cup.

When chief selector MSK Prasad called Vijay Shankar a 'three-dimensional player', little did we know that his comment would become the talk of the cricket world. What followed was a direct comparison between Rayudu and Shankar by all the pundits and fans across social media. An indirect dig by Ambati Rayudu with his famous '3D glass' tweet acted as a catalyst to this issue. Rayudu, who rarely uses his Twitter handle, tweeted, "Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup."

Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup 😉😋..

— Ambati Rayudu (@RayuduAmbati) April 16, 2019

After the completion of the league phase, batting stats of these two are found to be identical. Both have scored 219 runs in 14 matches. Moreover, they both average 19.90 in this year of IPL. Call it a coincidence or destiny, this will act as another catalyst to this ongoing comparison.

Batting stats of both Rayudu and Shankar

Shankar holds a better strike rate of 120.32 as compared to Rayudu whose strike rate is 90.49. And on the other hand, Rayudu scored a half-century - a match-winning 57 against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on April 12.

With both of their teams qualifying for the playoffs, it will be interesting to see what the stats will say after completion of this season. Shankar's SRH has become the first team in the history of the IPL to qualify for the playoffs with just 12 points. They will face Delhi Capitals in the eliminator. On the other hand, Rayudu's CSK will be playing against Mumbai Indians in the qualifier 1.

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