Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has held Virat Kohli accountable for Ambati Rayudu’s omission from India’s ODI World Cup 2019 squad.

Rayudu did exceptionally well while batting in the middle-order for India leading up to the showpiece event. However, he was not included in the 15-man World Cup squad for not having a "three-dimensional" game and Vijay Shankar was preferred over him.

Rayudu was not even called in as a replacement after Shikhar Dhawan got ruled out of the tournament due to an injury only after the team’s second match.

In an interview with Lallantop, Uthappa claimed that if Kohli, who was the captain of the Indian team at that time, didn’t like anyone then he was axed from the team and Rayudu became the victim of the same.

“If he (Virat Kohli) didn’t like anyone, he didn’t feel someone was good, then they were cut. (Ambati) Rayudu is the prime example. You feel bad. Everybody has preferences, I agree, but you cannot close the door on a player after taking him to the cusp. He had World Cup clothes and a World Cup kit bag; everything was there at his home. A player would be thinking that he is going to the World Cup. But you shut the door on him. That wasn’t fair according to me," Uthappa said.

After his 2019 World Cup omission, Ambati Rayudu had tweeted sarcastically "Just ordered a new set of 3D glasses to watch the World Cup," aimed at then chief selector MSK Prasad.

During an interview with TV9 Telugu in 2023, Rayudu had blamed Prasad for his snub. However, Prasad responded by saying that the selection committee consisted of other selectors too, and even the captain had a role in decisions.

Ambati Rayudu represented his country in 55 ODIs, scoring 1694 runs at an average of 47.06 with three centuries and 10 fifties. He was also part of India’s 2018 Asia Cup title winning side.