Ambati Rayudu set to come out of retirement to play in the Indian Premier League

Despite being among the five players on the standby list for the ICC World Cup, he was twice ignored by the selectors and the Indian team management chose to replace Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar with Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal respectively. However, while playing in the TNCA one-day league in Chennai, Rayudu cleared the air that he will be playing the IPL for Chennai Super Kings and make a comeback into white-ball cricket.

"I would definitely be playing the IPL for Chennai Super Kings and make a comeback into white-ball cricket. My priority now is to get back into peak fitness. "I wouldn't say it was an emotional decision because I worked very hard for the World Cup in the last four years," Rayudu said on the sidelines of the one-day league.

"You are bound to be disappointed and I felt it was time (to retire). The decision that I took was not because of rejection or anything else. You work towards something and when you don't get it, you feel it's time to move on," Rayudu said. 

His retirement came as a shock as many believed that he still had some years of cricket left in him but the knee jerk reaction brought the speculation that he was looking for opportunities in foreign T20 leagues. However, he cleared that he wouldn't be seeking his fortunes in overseas T20 leagues. But on being asked about if he is looking for a return to the Indian T20 team, he said he wanted to take things step-by-step.

"I haven't thought that far yet. I need to take it step-by-step and see how things pan out in the coming months. I had some time to think over it and then decided might as well come and play some cricket," he added.