“There was one Hyderabadi person” - Ambati Rayudu opens up on major issues with management, selectors

Ambati Rayudu, who announced his retirement recently, has opened up on the various problems he faced with regard to selection in the Indian team and at the domestic level as well during a chequered career.

The 37-year-old stated that he had certain issues with a ‘Hyderabadi person’ in the Indian ‘team management’ (MSK Prasad) during the 2019 World Cup and earlier with Shivlal Yadav in Hyderabad cricket.

Rayudu, who was recently part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) outfit that won the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, was shockingly dropped from the team for the 2019 World Cup. He was part of the ODI squad on a rather consistent basis in the build-up to the mega event but eventually did not make the World Cup squad.

In an interview with TV9 Telugu, Rayudu opened in detail on the snub, hinting that the axe was not performance related.

“A team selection is not done by 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," he said.

“These were the same people I have dealt with for my entire career in a cycle,” Rayudu added.

Despite being touted for great things, Rayudu only ended up playing 55 ODIs and six T20Is for India from 2013 to 2019.

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“I did not like some of his methods” - Rayudu on MSK Prasad

Much before his international debut, Rayudu faced troubles in domestic cricket as well. During the 2004-05 season, former India cricketer Shivlal Yadav was the Hyderabad secretary and his brother Rajesh Yadav was the Hyderabad coach.

Rayudu was in brilliantly batting form at that time but suddenly lost rhythm. There was a period of 13 innings in which he averaged under 12. Due to issues with the Hyderabad management, Rayudu moved to Andhra for the next season, where Prasad was the captain.

Recalling the tough times, the batter commented:

“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,” he added.

Rayudu ended his domestic career with 6151 runs in 97 matches at an average of 45.56, with 16 hundreds and 34 fifties.