ICC World Cup 2019 | Virat Kohli wishes Ambati Rayudu all the best for post retirement life

After Ambati Rayudu announced his retirement on Wednesday, Virat Kohli took to Twitter to wish Ambati Raydu the best of luck for the next step in his life, calling him a ‘top man’ in the process.

“Wish you the best going forward Ambati. You're a top man,” read the simple tweet.

Rayudu has previously played under Kohli’s captaincy when he represented India in the white ball formats and mentioned in his retirement letter how Kohli had always wanted the best for him. He also thanked MS Dhoni who handed him his debut and is his captain at Chennai Super Kings, as well as Rohit Sharma who is the captain of IPL champions Mumbai Indians for whom Rayudu has plied his trade in the past.

"I also would like to thank the two IPL franchises MI and CSK for their support. It has been an honour and privilege to have represented our country. I would like to thank the captains I have played under, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and especially Virat Kohli who always had shown great belief in me throughout my career with the Indian team," the email to BCCI read. 

Having first made his debut in international colours almost six years ago in an ODI against Zimbabwe, Rayudu made his first appearance for the Men in Blue in the game’s shortest format a year later. His excellent form off late in the domestic circuit had seen him being included in the World Cup reserves list. However, even though two players were injured, Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal were called up instead of him. Being overlooked by a player who has not even received an ODI cap yet provoked Rayudu to announce his decision.

"It has been a wonderful journey of playing the sport and learning from every up and down it brought up for the last 25 years at various different levels. Finally I would like to thank my family and all the wellwishers who have been with me throughout this wonderful journey," he wrote.

The 32-year-old has played 55 ODIs for India, scoring 1694 runs at an average of 47.05. He also has three centuries and a solid 10 half-centuries to his name. He has also played in six T20s but has a poor record, having scored only 42 runs in those games.