Robin Uthappa Accuses Virat Kohli of Playing a Role in Ambati Rayudu's Controversial Exclusion from the 2019 World Cup Team

Robin Uthappa played for India and was the teamate of winning the T20 World Cup in 2007 with MS Dhoni, he spoke about why Ambati Rayudu didn't make the spot 2019 ODI World Cup team for India. Rayudu played in 10 matches before the tournament, also he didn't get a spot on the team. Rayudu also wasn't picked to replace Shikhar Dhawan when he got injury and couldn't play.

In the interview, Uthappa mentioned that if the captain, Virat Kohli, wasn't interested in a player, it would be difficult for that player to be in the squad. He also noted that why Rayudu dropped from the world cup squad.

Uthappa, during a interview with Lallantop, "discussed Virat Kohli's thinking during the picking the team. He mentioned that Kohli might drop a player, if he doesn't have intrest. Ambati Rayudu was almost going to the World Cup. Rayudu had everything ready, expecting to join the cup but then unexpectedly he was not going anymore.

Robin Uthappa : "Virat Kohli played dirty politics with Ambati Rayudu and removed him from the 2019 World Cup squad due to personal grudges. This is what makes Rohit Sharma a better leader than him." pic.twitter.com/Y6nPAEVobF

— 𝐉𝐨𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞 (@jod_insane) January 13, 2025

Ambati Rayudu became unhappy after not picking him into India's ODI World Cup team and decided to show his disapproval on Twitter with a cryptic '3D' tweet, which basically pointed fingers at how they picked the team. Rayudu didn't mention any names, but it was obvious he was referring to MSK Prasad, the person in charge of choosing the team, leaving him out but then, Prasad told that, it wasn't only me making the calls to me. We've got several selectors and even the team captain sharing their opinions on decisions about selecting the team.

Rayudu's performance with the Indian cricket team

Ambati Rayudu has been a important player in the IPL, winning the six titles, and he played for india 55 ODIs and six T20I matches. During this ODIs and T20I, he scored 1,694 runs in ODIs and scored 42 runs in the T20Is. aside from his IPL success, he scored a important milestone as a turning point for India by helping them clinch the 2018 Asia Cup trophy in the United Arab Emirates. Although Rayudu's career on the ODIs played over six years, he did not got any chance to play in the 2015 ODI World Cup, even though he was on the team. It is a very Hard time.

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