Ambati Rayudu left out of Indian team to England; replacement named

32-year-old Rayudu was set to make his India team return after 2 years.

Ambati Rayudu | Getty

Team India will tour England for 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is and 5 Test matches in the months of July-August, 2018. Teams for the limited overs part, which will be played first, was announced after the completion of the Indian Premier League 2018.

Some of the best performers in the tournament were rewarded with places in the tournament and one of them was Ambati Rayudu. Rayudu was bought by Chennai Super Kings for IPL 11 and he was a revelation for the team, as he excelled both as an opener and at no.4. Rayudu ended the tournament with 602 runs at an average of 43 and a strike rate of 149.75 and was the fourth highest scorer in the tournament and highest for the CSK team.

Rayudu, whose last international appearance was in an ODI against Zimbabwe in June 2016, was chosen for the ODI leg of the England tour.

All the England bound players were asked to report for the mandatory fitness test at NCA in Bengaluru by the BCCI and it was later announced that Rayudu had failed to clear the yo-yo test. Passing the yo-yo test has become the mandatory for players to become eligible to play for India and in the past, players like Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina had been left out of squads due to failing the yo-yo test.

This meant that Ambati Rayudu will now miss his Team India return and BCCI have named a replacement for him.

Left-hander Suresh Raina will replace Ambati Rayudu in the ODI squad. Raina is already a part of India's T20I squad for England and will now stay back for ODIs as well.

 

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 16 Jun, 2018

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