Veteran batter Ambati Rayudu posted on social media that he will retire after the ongoing Indian Premier League season, and then deleted the post, prompting Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan to clarify that the 36-year-old will stay on with the franchise.
“I am happy to announce that this will be my last IPL. I have had a wonderful time playing it and being a part of 2 great teams for 13 years,” Rayudu had tweeted on Saturday.
“Would love to sincerely thank Mumbai Indians and CSK for the wonderful journey.”
The post was, however, deleted within an hour.
Viswanathan later confirmed that CSK’s Rs 6.75 crore acquisition from the mega auction earlier this year will indeed don the team’s yellow jersey next year as well.
“He was a bit disappointed that he was not doing well. So, he mistakenly put out that tweet. I have explained things to him. He is not retiring,” Vishwanathan told NDTV. “He will be with us.”
According to a report on ESPNCricinfo too, the CSK management spoke to Rayudu which resulted in the tweet being taken down.
Rayudu – who has won three IPL titles with the Mumbai Indians and two with CSK – has not been able to achieve consistency this season like most of the CSK batting unit, managing j271 runs in 10 innings so far.
His form has reflected on CSK’s performances this year, as the franchise has managed to win just four of their 12 matches so far, and are out of playoffs contention.
The batter has however, been among the more reliable players over the years, which earned him 55 ODI and six T20I caps for the national team over his career.
Rayudu had also announced his retirement from cricket in 2019 after he was overlooked for the Indian team that competed at the men’s ODI World Cup.
It’s been a season of drama at CSK, with their most expensive auction recruit Deepak Chahar not featuring at all due to an injury and Ravindra Jadeja’s appointment and then removal as skipper as well as a supposed injury that’s ended his season early. The results on the field have been poor but off field too, there has been problems around the franchise that has prided itself on stability over the years.
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