BCCI Announces Perfect Replacement of Rayudu for Upcoming England Tour

After failing to clear the prescribed 16.1 mark in the yo-yo fitness test, Ambati Rayudu has been officially dropped from the Indian ODI squad which would feature in the ODI matches against England.

Cricket news: Rayudu will have to wait again to get a second chance

This was a great chance for Rayudu to make a comeback and cement his position in the Indian team as he was all set to play in the number 4 position in all the three ODIs against England.

However now he has failed the fitness test, the BCCI selectors have chosen another player as a replacement for Rayudu, who is another one that is going to make a comeback.

Rayudu’s selection to the side was a reward for his excellent performance for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League this year.

Since he was promoted at the top of the order, his performance changed a lot positively as he single-handedly won many matches for CSK. However he has now lost his place due to his failure to clear the fitness test.

The selectors of BCCI, according to their official website, has selected Suresh Raina as the replacement for Ambati Rayudu for the upcoming ODI series against England.

This is going to be a great opportunity for the left-handed batsman as the 2019 World Cup is also scheduled to be held in England. If Raina performs well in those conditions, he will surely win the favours of the selectors for a call to the World Cup squad.

Raina had previously made a comeback in the T20I side in the series against South Africa and has also been part of the Nidahas Trophy squad.

He had last played for his country in the ODI format in 2015 in Mumbai against South Africa. The experienced batsman can also solve the problem of India’s sixth bowler.

With 5568 runs from 223 ODI matches at an average of 35.46 and an amazing strike rate of 93.76, Raina would be eager to don the Indian jersey for the ODI format once again.

Updated ODI squad for England tour:

Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar