New Delhi, Aug 12 Former India batter Ambati Rayudu reflected on his eight-season stint with Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), saying the team enjoyed a close-knit dressing room atmosphere and consistently supported one another on the field.
Rayudu played for MI from 2010 to 2017. During his time with MI, he played 87 matches, scoring 1,771 runs with a high score of 81 not out. He was also part of the three title-winning campaigns in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
“When I played for MI, the entire dressing room had an unspoken understanding: if someone tried to have a go at us, three or four players would immediately step in to back their teammate. That’s why very few teams ever tried to take on MI. RCB, on the other hand, would go after everyone. Sometimes they teased me or another MI player once or twice, but eventually, even they realised it wasn’t wise to mess with MI," Rayudu said on JioHotstar's 'Cheeky Singles’.
After leaving MI, Rayudu joined another IPL giant, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and represented the franchise from 2018 to 2021. In 61 matches for CSK, Rayudu contributed 1,507 runs, including a century and seven fifties. He went on to lift two titles with the franchise before concluding his IPL career with five silverwares.
“Sometimes, Mahi bhai would tell me - just like a tin roof heats up quickly, I also tend to lose my cool quickly. We would point out to the umpire that a delivery was wide or a no-ball, and he would always tell me, ‘Just focus on batting, don’t raise your hand. I don’t want to lose Fair Play points because of you'. Interestingly, that same year, he himself walked onto the field - not because of me, but because we were losing," he said.
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