Ambati Rayudu, unhappy with politics in Hyderabad cricket, to skip Ranji Trophy

Ambati Rayudu, unhappy with politics in Hyderabad cricket, to skip Ranji Trophy

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Ambati Rayudu has decided to opt out of Hyderabad's Ranji Trophy season as he is unhappy with the politics going on in Hyderabad cricket. Rayudu had captained Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and is the skipper in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy but he is feeling very uncomfortable due to politics.

Ambati Rayudu had come out of retirement in August and had decided to try to play for India with fresh vigour. But he has been extremely unhappy with the politics going on in the Hyderabad Cricket and he has urged Telangana's Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao to look into the matter and curb the corruption and politics going on in cricket in this region. He has decided to express his unhappiness by opting out of playing for the Hyderabad team in the upcoming season of the Ranji Trophy. He also had a chat with Hyderabad Cricket Association President Mohammad Azharuddin about this matter and had expressed his feelings about how influential politician's children get preference in playing for Hyderabad.

"I did have a talk with the president. He always said he was trying his best. But it never happened. I feel he should have initiated stronger measures but he did not do that. I feel there were more election promises and as a result, the game suffered," Rayudu told Telengana Today.

Rayudu spoke about how cricketers were not selected on merit and how it was more about having contacts in the association and revealed that he could not do anything about it.

"It hurt me a lot. A few players, who did not deserve to be in the team, were included in the team because of the election promises. If this happens, how can a team improve? My hands were tight (sic) for the playing eleven when it came to few players and they were untouchable during the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament," he revealed.

"If you look at the team, some of the players are selected because of the influence of some club secretaries. Sometimes, merit takes a back seat. This is unfortunate. Rich, influential and politicians' children get preferences in Hyderabad teams. This is a true fact. We have to stop this buck. Since someone had to speak out, I thought I should do this. This is how bad the system has become in HCA," he added.

Rayudu also felt that the selection of former Hyderabad all-rounder Arjun Yadav was completely against the merit and he believed that this would only go on to hurt Hyderabad cricket even more as they would not get the required quality experience. He feels Arjun has been elected only due to the influence of his father and former BCCI President Shivlal Yadav.

"He is not a qualified coach and has a conflict of interest which has not been addressed yet. He is not fit to be the Ranji coach. It is because of his father's influence he has been able to become the coach. I feel it was an election promise to make him (Arjun) as the coach," Rayudu further revealed.

BR Sandeep, who was Hyderabad's leading run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, will captain the side in the Ranji Trophy in absence of Rayudu.

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