Suresh Raina replaces Ambati Rayudu for England tour

Ambati Rayudu, who scored 602 runs in 16 matches in the Indian Premier League season for Chennai Super Kings, was India’s first choice but on Friday, but after he failed his yo-yo test, a mandatory fitness practice for players in recent times to be qualified as fit. Hence, Suresh Raina was named as his replacement.

"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Suresh Raina as Ambati Rayudu’s replacement in India’s ODI squad for the series against England. The announcement came after Rayudu failed to clear his fitness test that was held at National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru on Friday," the BCCI statement read.

It was expected to be a dream return for Rayudu into the Indian team on the back of a brilliant show in the Indian Premier League. But the batsman’s hopes of joining the team for the limited-overs tour of England were dashed on Friday when the 32-year-old reportedly failed the Yo-Yo test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. 

According to reports, Rayudu, who had a major role in Chennai Super Kings’ victorious IPL campaign, performed well below-par in the range of 14 his test. The India and India A players were asked to achieve a 16.1 target. Earlier, there were reports that stated that Ajinkya Rahane, Krunal Pandya, Manish Pandey and Rishabh Pant were also in the fray as Rayudu’s replacement.

Raina also impressed in the IPL, where his CSK side made a triumphant return to the tournament after serving a two-year ban. India would play three ODIs in England, starting on July 12.

India’s ODI squad:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav