The Rayudu mystery
The hangover from the World Cup final may be diminishing but Indian cricket’s fixation with a discarded No. 4 is still prevalent. When India’s World Cup squad was announced in April, Rayudu had been omitted in favor of Vijay Shankar, with Prasad stating that the latter brought “three dimensions” to the side. A day after the announcement, Rayudu, in a not-so-cryptic tweet, mentioned: “Just ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the World Cup.” This was followed by a winking and a smiling emoji. On Sunday, while announcing India’s squads for the West Indies tour, Prasad mentioned that he had “thoroughly enjoyed” that tweet. “To be honest, it was a delightful tweet, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Seriously. It was a very well-timed one, very sarcastic. It was an incredible one. I don’t know how it came to him.”
Even though he had been specified as India’s No. 4 by Virat Kohli last year, the selectors didn’t select him to go to England even after Vijay Shankar was injured and the team required replacements. Prasad insisted there was no partiality in that decision, and added that his committee had supported Rayudu previously.
“First of all, the same emotions that anyone went through, the selection committee members also underwent the same emotions,” Prasad said on Sunday. “When we pick any player and he performs well, we feel extremely happy for him. Similarly, when someone, out of emotions, leaves in this manner, selection committee members also feel for it.
“But, having said that, regarding the decision that was made, it was free from any bias or any favoritism. From the beginning, I have been explaining why we have chosen Vijay Shankar, why we have chosen Rishabh Pant or Mayank Agarwal. Somewhere, it is definitely linked to Rayudu’s case as well. There’s no doubt about it, there’s nothing against that.
“I hope you will understand that there was a certain program that was implemented to ensure that Rayudu should come into the side. There’s nothing that we did against any particular person. So how much Rayudu is emotional, we are also emotional. We as ex-cricketers also empathize with him. That’s it, that’s what I can say.”
Selecting Pant for Dhawan, Agarwal for Vijay Shankar
“It is not the selection committee’s decision. It is the team management which has been asking these things,” Gavaskar had said. “We are not saying you are wrong but at the moment what we are seeing didn’t work out, so we need to know.”
Prasad addressed these issues on Sunday, clarifying that Pant and Agarwal had been picked at the behest of the team management.
“When Shikhar Dhawan got injured, we had a third opener in KL Rahul. At that juncture, after those two-three matches, we didn’t have a left-hander at the top,” Prasad explained. “Since KL Rahul was going to open, the team management requested for a left-hander and we had no choice other than Pant. We were very clear about that. We know what he is capable of. That’s the reason why we had to bring in a left-hander, which actually confused many people thinking why a middle-order batsman has been picked for an opener.
“When Vijay Shankar was injured, again a middle-order player was injured, and an opener was brought in. In a game against England, when KL Rahul was trying for a catch, he had a big fall on the boundary line and he didn’t field for the rest of the innings. There was a medical emergency at that stage whether he will be continuing or not. There was so much of a worry factor. At that juncture, a written communication was given to us that we need a back-up opener.
“We looked at some of the openers. Some were not in form, the others were injured. That is why we went for Mayank Agarwal. So that is very clear, no confusion on this. I’m sure by the end of the day all these speculations will be clear.”
Vishal Dikshit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
