Ambati Rayudu retires from first-class cricket to stretch his limited-overs career

Rayudu has played 97 First Class games and has scored as many as 6,151 runs at an average of 45.56. During the course of his 18-year-long career, the Hyderabad born batsman struck 16 centuries and 34 half-centuries with a career-best 210 against Andhra. On the back of some solid performances in the IPL, Rayudu made a comeback to the Indian team for the shorter version of the game and was backed by Virat Kohli as India’s No. 4 for the World Cup 2019. 

In an email to HCA and BCCI, Rayudu wrote, "I have made a decision to retire from the longer format of the game keeping in view my injury history and my body going forward. This would help me focus on the shorter formats of the game and become much better at them and also will have time to keep my body in an extremely fit condition.

"I really would thank the Hyderabad Cricket Association and the BCCI for helping me get to where I am. I would also take this moment to thank my previous Associations Andhra, Baroda and Vidharbha for their support," Rayudu wrote.

The 33-year-old had made his first-class debut in 2001 for Hyderabad and made an immediate impact in only the third match of his career by scoring 210 and 159 not out against Andhra. However, his differences with Arjun Yadav, son of former India player Shivlal Yadav, forced him to move to Andhra.

However, that association didn’t last long as he came back to Hyderabad before joining Indian Cricket League, which resulted in he being banned from participating in any BCCI-sanctioned tournaments. After BCCI amnesty, Rayudu returned to Hyderabad but again changed state to Baroda. In 2016-17, he decided to play for Vidarbha, although injuries prevented him from playing a single first-class match for the team. He played a few domestic limited-overs matches for them.

Before the last season of the Ranji Trophy, Rayudu returned to Hyderabad and played only three matches for them, scoring 278 runs at an average of 69.50 with a century and two fifties. And understandably, his absence is going to be a huge loss for the team.

"It is a big loss for Hyderabad cricket as Rayudu was not only a genius of a batsman but also a very intelligent captain. He has a good cricketing brain and reads the game very well. Finding someone with all these qualities in a short time will be a tough call for us. The ball is now in our courts as we have to rework our plans for the season. This is an out of the blue blow for us as we hadn't expected this as the season has just started. We will have to rework our strategies and look how best we can fill up this big gap," Noel David, chairman of the HCA Senior Selection Committee, told ToI.

"We have to respect Rayudu's decision as I am sure he has taken it keeping his best interest in view. It is every cricketer's dream to play in the World Cup and therefore we should support him in realising his dream. I am sure that he will still play a key role for Hyderabad not only in the shorter versions of the game but also help mentor youngsters cope up with the pressures of playing in the longer version," David added.

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