Permanent no. 4 batsman Ambati Rayudu hangs boot from international cricket

Hyderabad: Indian middle-order batsman Ambai Rayudu has retired from all forms of  cricket.Rayudu  took this decision a day after he was ignored for the ongoing World Cup  being held in England for the third time.

The 33-year-old was ignored for the World Cup but later on when there were injuries to Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar he was not selected and instead Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal were sent as replacements.

He sent his retirement letter to Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) to be forwarded to the BCCI.

In his letter, Rayudu said "I have come to decision to step away from the sport and retire from all forms and levels of the game" . I thank the BCCI and all the state associations that I have represented which include Hyderabad, Baroda, Andhra and Vidharbha.

I also thank the two IPL franchises MI and CSK for their support and it has been a honour and privilege to have represented our country, the Indian Cricketer said in his letter.

" I also like to thank the captains I have played under, M S Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and especially Virat Kohli who always had shown great belief in me throughout my career with the Indian team", he said It has been a wonderful journey of playing the sport and learning from every up and down it brought up on for the last 25 years at various different levels.

Finally,  I would like to thank my family and all the well wishers who have been with me throughout this wonderful journey, he said in his letter.

Rayudu had announced retirement from first class cricket last season as he wanted to concentrate in shorter format of the game. But his non-selection to World Cup has led his decision to retire from all forms of the game.(UNI)