Vijay Shankar’s selection over Ambati Rayudu raised several eyebrows after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced their 15-man squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Experts had their opinions published, while the fans were in the split as well.
The selection committee, however, cleared their stance that Shankar, who had only made his ODI debut earlier this year, has been selected on the basis of his ‘3-dimensional’ abilities which involve his skills with both ball and the bat as well as in fielding.
The news, as expected, wasn’t digested well by the left-out Rayudu who took to Twitter and expressed his discontent in the most fashionable way possible. “Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup,” wrote the 33-year-old on social media.
As of now, both Rayudu (Chennai) and Shankar (Hyderabad) are playing for their respective franchises in the ongoing Indian T20 League and are trying their best to prove the mettle. In the process, though, both have ended their tenure in the league stage with literally identical numbers.
Both these men, after 14 games, ended their tenure with 219 runs at their disposal, with an identical average of 19.90. Shankar, however, played an inning less (13) and has a better strike rate (120.32) than his counterpart (90.49).
Meanwhile, both Chennai and Hyderabad have qualified for the playoffs and the former, who are defending their title this season, are set to play the first playoff against Mumbai at their own turf on May 7.
