‘Selection committee has 5 selectors, captain’: MSK Prasad responds to Ambati Rayudu’s 2019 World Cup snub allegations

In the past considered to be the answer to India's middle order issues, Ambati Rayudu was famously overlooked for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. He was also not selected when India lost opener Shikhar Dhawan, due to an injury. Even after Vijay Shankar got injured, Rayudu was still ignored and when India crashed to a defeat in the semi-final, the batter announced his retirement from international cricket.

During a recent interview with TV9 Telugu, Rayudu opened up on his 2019 World Cup snub and revealed that he and former chief of selector MSK Prasad didn't get along well. Prasad was the chief selector during the 2019 World Cup. Rayudu also mentioned that in 2005, when he played for Andhra Pradesh, he didn't like some of the methods of the team captain (Prasad).

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So it wasn't a surprise when Prasad, who is also a former India player, decided to respond to Rayudu's allegations. Speaking to timesnownews.com, he said, "All of us know that the selection committee has got five selectors and the captain sitting in the selection committee. Will any single person’s decision be taken or is it a consensus or is it an entire collective decision that would be taken? If an individual can take a decision then you don’t require five selectors."

"So any decision that is taken only happens with the consensus of the entire selection committee. So it is a collective decision. Not an individual decision. I may propose something but somebody else has to accept it. No individual decision will prevail in a committee", he further added.

Also, reacting to Rayudu's allegations regarding his Andhra captaincy, Prasad said, "In a team, a small difference can happen during a long cricketing season. There can be a difference of opinion between brothers also. But that cannot be the reason to carry such small differences here and there to such a big platform like Indian cricket team’s selection. Rayudu got selected for Indian Team for all the previous international games prior to the World Cup."

"When one doesn’t have differences for those matches then how come any difference will come for World Cup selections? I want to clear the air that the selection process is a complete collective decision but it will never be an individual opinion or decision", he further added.

Rayudu recently won IPL 2023 with Chennai Super Kings, who defeated Gujarat Titans in the final. Since his international retirement in July 2019, Rayudu announced his IPL retirement on May 28 this year, followed by quitting all forms of Indian cricket on May 29.