IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla is not happy with Ambati Rayudu’s sudden retirement

A month ago the favourite son of Indian cricket, Yuvraj Singh announced his international retirement. On the 3rd of July, Ambati Rayudu bid farewell to all forms of the game. His retirement has divided the cricketing fraternity with most of them supporting his decision and wishing him well for his future endeavours. Though a certain section of people were also disappointed that he decided to call it time just at 33. One of them is IPL chairman, Rajeev Shukla.

Rayudu’s move to retire from all formats of the game was unexpected for most. At 33 the right-hander had been performing well in the last couple of years. He had even quit red-ball cricket to focus on his limited-overs career and there is a lot of cricket left in him. Once touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket, Rayudu has gone through a lot in his roller-coaster career. Thus it seemed like an emotional decision after the World Cup snub.

Rajeev Shukla’s take on Rayudu’s retirement

Shukla expressed that the right-hander still had fuel left in his tank and admitted that he will miss the trademark Ambati lofty strokes. He further added that the cricketer from Guntur was unlucky to have played only a few games in the national colours despite the enormous promise. Shukla opined that Rayudu’s talent was not used to the fullest by Indian cricket.

“Too early, too soon for a man who had a lot of cricket left in him. The crowded stands of stadiums will miss your lofty strokes. Wish you well for life ahead. Though I strongly feel that time was not ripe for him to hang his boots He had lots of cricket left in him His talent should have been utilized in a much better way for the country.”

Though I strongly feel that time was not ripe for him to hang his boots He had lots of cricket left in him His talent should have been utilised in a much better way for the country @RayuduAmbati

— Rajeev Shukla (@ShuklaRajiv) July 3, 2019

Ambati Raydu’s retirement has surely attracted a lot of attention. Especially the former cricketers have criticized the Indian selectors for their ill-treatment and for his non-selection in the World Cup squad despite being on the standby list.

Six months ago Rayudu was the front-runner to resolve India’s middle muddle. Soon after a string of low scores at the start of 2019 and he was out of favour and not even named in the squad of 15.