Two retirement announcements by Chennai Super Kings players dominated the airwaves this year. Both MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina received their well-deserved praise, but it would be fair to say that it was hard to imagine either of them wearing an India jersey again. Compare that to a shocking ad last year that failed to create a ripple.
Ambati Rayudu should have been in England last July had it not been for the extravagant decisions of the national selectors and team leadership. He had proven in more than 20 entries in six months that he was the right man for the role in India’s middle order. He averaged 43 and hit 84 in this period. He showed he could rebuild, he proved he could cope with the effects, and he proved he could dominate when dominating was the need of the moment. Especially promising was his 90 to help India win 18-4 in closing conditions in their penultimate heat before the World Cup. As it turned out, a similar score against the same opposition eliminated India from the World Cup.
Three scores read in the next series, and Rayudu was eliminated to accommodate KL Rahul, too good a player to be left out on many sides, but someone who was not yet ready to play that middle-order role. Rayudu was eventually left out of the India World Cup team.
Later, Vijay Shankar, the “three-dimensional” player who led Rayudu’s legendary “3d glasses” gybe to head coach MSK Prasad, was injured. Did you sure you thought it was time for Rayudu? Apparently not. Then Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out for the World Cup. And India still found a way to keep out the only player who had proven himself in that specific mid-level role. He had lost to a handsome goalie-batter and another starter. None of them were 3D.
Rayudu had had enough. Angry, he announced that he was withdrawing from all cricket formats. He was 34 at the time and was not dealing with a career-threatening injury. There is no way for a cricket employer to agree to such a withdrawal of all cricket before providing the player with proper advice. This was 2019, not 1969.
Not long ago, Jimmy Neesham, a cricketer who found redemption at the World Cup itself, thought he was done with the game. When he informed the players’ association that he had had enough cricket, they convinced him to take a break from the game and then make a thoughtful decision. During the break, she rediscovered her love for him and returned successfully. Rayudu did not have a players association to speak to and his bosses at BCCI accepted the retirement with a phrase of thanks.
Rayudu may have paid the price for his temperament and high emotions throughout his cricket career. While his outburst against Prasad’s selection of an untested off-roader, nothing against Vijay Shankar, was refreshing in a cricket ecosystem where dissent is fraught with danger, one wonders how much role he played in their non-selection even after they appeared. two vacancies. India’s favorite No. 4 had become persona non grata in a series before the big World Cup. Knowing Rayudu, that retirement call was not surprising.
However, it is good that Rayudu chose to return. A private person, if there ever was one in Indian cricket, Rayudu has given no one credit for influencing that rethinking. Knowing how many bridges he has burned along the way, it’s hard to see someone outside of the Super Kings setup influencing that change of mind. If a stranger was needed. Rayudu just said that he realized he loved the game too much to stop playing when he was still young and fit.
On the evidence of Rayudu’s first big comeback match, he has made the right decision. He went into 6-for-2 with the ball swinging and coming together, and then he successfully took on Jasprit Bumrah and removed the spin threat even before the spray came in to make his job even more difficult. His 71 of 48 in a low scoring match was far above anyone involved in the game. The value of his tickets is evident by how ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats adjusts his absolute strike rate of 142.55 to a Smart Strike Rate of 157.32.
Rayudu made sure that Faf du Plessis’s presenter role didn’t hurt him. His long stint in the wicket, and his favorable match against the rhythm of the left arm, meant that Mumbai was forced to delay the return of Trent Boult to such an extent that Boult stayed to bowl to death, where he does not usually Do well. Rayudu’s coach at Super Kings, Stephen Fleming, put his comeback in perspective.
“Last year was a difficult year for several players outside of that World Cup team,” Fleming said. “That occupied a lot of minds. Certainly with the form of some of our players this year, it is a total commitment to CSK. Rayudu has been an emotional player over the years for us. He has been nothing short of fantastic. new today turned the game around. His experience, and also his skill set, was an important part of us winning today. “
This was an entry from a free man. Someone who didn’t have to worry about selectors and their thought process. It does not have to be this way. Rayudu will only be 35 when the T20 World Cup hits India, if Covid-19 allows it, next year. This IPL, in which he will be the main man for the Super Kings in the absence of Raina, is a great opportunity for him to leave the selectors and the management of the India team in an uncomfortable poser. Force them to at least think of a new reason.
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