Ambati Rayudu excited to play for Texas Super Kings (Ambati Rayudu Twitter)
Ambati Rayudu was excited to play for Texas Super Kings in the Major League Cricket 2023, where he’d be joined by many Chennai Super Kings teammates
After hanging his boots in the IPL, Ambati Rayudu is all geared up to begin a new chapter of his cricketing career away from home soil. Rayudu announced his retirement last month after winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) title with Chennai Super Kings. Now the 37-year-old batter has decided to take part in the first season of USA’s Major League Cricket (MLC) where he will play for Texas Super Kings, a team owned by the CSK franchise.
Revealing his excitement for the new challenge in a different continent, a “Texited” Rayudu dropped a selfie of him donning the TSK kit on Twitter and the cricketer was all yellow in the picture. He could be seen sporting a cowboy hat which had the TSK emblem in the middle.
Ambati Rayudu’s love for the Super Kings is not a known affair. He spent six IPL seasons with the Chennai franchise from 2018 to 2023. The middle-order batter has played several noteworthy innings during his spell with CSK. But his best performance came in 2018 when MS Dhoni and Co lifted their third IPL trophy. Rayudu looks keen to continue the commitment to the franchise, representing them in the MLC.
With his involvement in the MLC, Ambati Rayudu will be able to reunite with some of his former CSK teammates as Devon Conway and Mitchell Santer have also been roped in by TSK.
Ex-CSK players Albie Morkel and Eric Simmons have been assigned as the coaches while Stephen Fleming will be also there to assist them. Dwayne Bravo, who was appointed as CSK’s bowling coach last season, will once again take the field for TSK. The other overseas players of TSK include David Miller, Daniel Sams and Gerald Coetzee.
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Ambati Raydu looked quite pale during his final season of the IPL. He batted as an impact player for CSK in most of the games. But Rayudu came out of his shell in the most-important final against Gujarat Titans, drawing curtains on his IPL career on a strong note.
The veteran batter played a blistering cameo of 19 runs off 8 balls when CSK required some aggressive batting to bounce back in the match. After CSK clinched their fifth IPL title following a thrilling finish, Rayudu couldn’t hold back his tears while bidding adieu to the Indian franchise league one last time.