MSK Prasad responds to Ambati Rayudu on 2019 World Cup snub, says it was a 'collective decision'

Former India chief selector MSK Prasad has hit back at Ambati Rayudu over his statement on the 2019 World Cup selection controversy.

Rayudu opened up getting snubbed in the 2019 World Cup shortly after retiring from all forms of the game after helping Chennai Super Kings (CSK) win their fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) title.

The middle-order batter, who had been backed for the No 4 slot in India’s World Cup squad after an extended run in 2018 and 2019, said he had not been picked “for whatever reason which only they (Prasad) would know”, adding that he held no animosity towards all-rounder Vijay Shankar, who was included in his place for his “three-dimensional skills”.

Read | Kumble says Rayudu should have made India's 2019 World Cup squad

Prasad, a former wicketkeeper with the Indian team, broke his silence on the matter and said that the decision to drop Rayudu from the squad was a “collective” one, and not one that came from personal bias.

“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 a 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,” Prasad was quoted as saying on Times Now.

Rayudu, who burst into the scene with a sensational 177 against England in a youth ODI in 2002, had shared the Andhra dressing room with Prasad during the 2005-06 domestic season before joining Hyderabad the following season.

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The swashbuckling batter, known for his fiery temper on the field that have led to many a run-in with other players, announced his international retirement shortly after the World Cup snub, though he would go on to represent CSK in the IPL in the 16th season, in which MS Dhoni and Co defeated Gujarat Titans in the final in Ahmedabad to go level with Mumbai Indians on title count.

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