Ambati Rayudu To Give Ranji Trophy a Miss, Gives ‘Politics’ in HCA as Reason

Former India middle-order batsman Ambati Rayudu has opted out of playing for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy, giving the reason of ‘a lot of politics’ in the team, according to a report in Telangana Today. Rayudu, who led Hyderabad in Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently, said that he was looking forward to playing for Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy this season. But there is a lot of politics in the team which made him very uncomfortable.

During the ICC World Cup earlier this year, he announced his retirement. However, in August he once again returned to the action from his retirement. Meanwhile, he took to Twitter to urge to Telangana’s Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao to look after the matter. He further said that he had informed Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) president Mohammad Azharuddin about his decision as well.

“I did have a talk with the president. He always said he was trying his best. But it never happened,” Rayudu said. “I feel he should have initiated stronger measures but he did not do that. I feel there were more election promises and as a result, the game suffered.”

“It hurt me a lot. A few players, who did not deserve to be in the team, were included in the team because of the election promises. If this happens, how can a team improve? My hands were tight for the playing eleven when it came to few players and they were untouchable during the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament,” Ambati Rayudu added.

He further spoke openly on some of the players whom he thinks came in the squad with the influence of high profile personnel. He even thinks these should stop and that is why he spoke about this.

“If you look at the team, some of the players are selected because of the influence of some club secretaries. Sometimes, merit takes a back seat. This is unfortunate. Rich, influential and politicians’ children get preferences in Hyderabad teams. This is a true fact. We have to stop this buck. Since someone had to speak out, I thought I should do this. This is how bad the system has become in HCA,” he said.

Ambati Rayudu also expressed his disagreement over the appointment of Arjun Yadav as the coach because he thinks Yadav isn’t fit for the job. Moreover, Rayudu claimed he has a conflict of interest also.

“He is not a qualified coach and has conflict of interest which has not been addressed yet. He is not fit to be the Ranji coach. It is because of his father’s influence he has been able to become the coach. I feel it was an election promise to make him (Arjun) as the coach,” Ambati Rayudu concluded.