Ambati Rayudu retires from first-class cricket

Indias ODI specialist Ambati Rayudu Saturday announced his retirement from firstclass cricket to focus on one dayers and T20s The 33yearold Rayudu is one of the key members of the Indian ODI side but has never played Test cricketThis is to inform that Ambati Rayudu Hyderabad captain and member of the India ODI team has decided to retire from longer version of the game including Ranji Trophy multi day to focus on limited overs cricket and T20 cricket Hyderabad Cricket Association said in a press releaseHe will continue to play international and domestic matches of shorter version He has thanked BCCI Hyderabad Cricket Association Andhra Cricket Association Baroda Cricket Association and Vidharbha Cricket Association the release further stated Rayudu who recently made a comeback in the Indian team by virtue of a successful IPL for Chennai Super Kings is being seen as Indias number four batsman going into the ODI World Cup in EnglandHe recently had a productive ODI series against West Indies scoring 217 runs with a hundred and halfcentury prompting both skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri to single him out for special praiseThere is a possibility that Rayudu who will next play for India in January and February in eight ODI matches against Australia and New Zealand wanted to conserve his energies as he doesnt want to fail another fitness testEarlier this year Rayudu had failed to make the ODI tour of England despite being selected after he failed to clear the mandatory Yo Yo test It was then widely believed that due to the exhaustion of IPL where he scored 600 plus runs for CSK the Hyderabad batsman couldnt clear the 161 markAccording to sources in the know of things Rayudu probably didnt want to exhaust himself by playing gruelling Ranji Trophy as it might affect his Yo Yo test performance before the tour of AustraliaWith virtually no chance of donning the India whites Rayudu called time on his 17yearlong firstclass career in which he scored 6151 runs from 97 games This included 16 hundreds at a healthy average of 4556 and highest score of 210 It was only natural that Rayudu who has scored 1447 runs in 45 ODIs at an impressive average of 5167 decided to concentrate on the format which has paid dividends for him Also the fact that he is an IPL regular made his choice easierHowever it was the longer format where a 16yearold Rayudu initially made his mark in the Ranji Trophy for Hyderabad before a tiff with erstwhile HCA boss Shivlal Yadavs son Arjun made him shift to AndhraHe did comeback before joining the rebel Indian Cricket League and was banned by the BCCI He then got amnesty and was back in HyderabadLater he shifted to Baroda where he played for number of seasons and also made his senior international debut during that periodCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever