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India batter Ambati Rayudu, who announced his retirement after WC 2019 snub but later retracted his decision, has now expressed his longing to continue playing for the next three years.
“I would love to keep playing till I am in good form and fit. I will be ready for the next cycle, which is three years and I am working hard on my fitness,” said Ambati Rayudu.
However, the right-handed batter has been a regular for CSK in the Indian Premier League and has been with them since 2018.
“I recently played the Vijay Hazare Trophy which is five one-day games in six days which I got through well. I am in good shape and I hope to continue to play at least for the next three years,” he added.
In 55 ODIs, Rayudu scored 1694 runs with three centuries and 10 half-centuries at an average of 47.05. In the six T20Is he played, the middle-order batsman scored 42 runs. Rayudu never got a chance to represent India in Test cricket.
“It is a great honor to represent India and I am happy that I represented India in the white ball format-ODI and T20s. I feel unfortunate about missing out on the Test cap. But I don’t regret it as I have given my best. I am happy for the opportunities I got to represent the team and that in itself is a great honor.” he said.
Initially, the 33-year-old was not included in the 15-man India squad for the World Cup because of not having a "three-dimensional" game and Vijay Shankar was preferred over him.
In 2009, his career received a fresh lease of life when he accepted the BCCI's amnesty offer and starred in the Indian Premier League. So impressive was Rayudu that his Mumbai Indians’ teammate Harbhajan Singh called him "a special talent" and said he could see Rayudu playing for India. Rayudu made 356 runs in the 2010 IPL and was re-signed for the 2011 season. He stepped up further that season, making 395 runs to be the team's second-highest scorer, behind Sachin Tendulkar.
He was finally handed his India debut in a low-profile ODI series in Zimbabwe in 2013. Keen to make up for lost time, he responded with an unbeaten 63 on debut, becoming the third-oldest Indian at the time, at 27 years and 304 days, to score a fifty on ODI debut. The following year Rayudu became the fourth-oldest Indian to score a maiden ODI ton with his unbeaten 121 off 118 balls against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad. Rayudu was part of India's squad in the 2015 World Cup, but did not get a game.
