Published: Jan 13, 2025, 12:30 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 13, 2025, 12:30 PM (IST)
Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has accused Virat Kohli of picking players on the basis of likes and dislikes during his captaincy reign. Uthappa claimed that former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu was not able to find a place in the Men in Blue’s 2019 ODI World Cup squad because Kohli ‘didn’t like him’.
“If he (Virat Kohli) didn’t like anyone, he didn’t feel someone is good, then they were cut. (Ambati) Rayudu is the prime example. You feel bad. Everybody has preferences, I agree but you cannot close the door on a player after taking him to the cusp. He had World Cup clothes, World Cup kit bag, everything was there at his home. A player would be thinking that he is going to the World Cup. But you shut the door on him. That wasn’t fair according to me,” Uthappa told The Lallantop.
Rayudu’s shock omission from the squad had triggered a massive controversy during that time and the player himself took to social media to criticize th selection committee’s baffling decision.
During that time, it was reported that the then-selection committee chief MSK Prasad had a massive role to play in Rayudu’s snub which saw all-rounder Vijay Shankar replace him in India’s World Cup squad.
In an interview later, Prasad had claimed that other selectors and Kohli also had a say in selecting the final squad for the 2019 ODI World Cup.
