"Force your management to bring players who will put teams interests first"- Ambati Rayudu takes a dig at RCB hierarchy in a message for fans
Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu has recently faced severe backlash from Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans for criticizing the franchise. An expert on Star Sports, Rayudu had claimed earlier in the season that Bengaluru focused only on big games.
RCB made a sensational turnaround, winning their final six league games, and knocked out Rayudu's former team Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to make it to the playoffs. RCB fans trolled Rayudu for his views after their team qualified.
Ambati Rayudu took to X (formerly Twitter) to offer his support to the Bengaluru fans after their team was knocked out of the IPL 2024 by the Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator. Rayudu accused the RCB management and the leadership group for putting their personal interests over the team's.
Here's what he wrote:
"My heart truly goes out to all the rcb supporters who have passionately supported the team over the years. If only the management and the leaders had the teams interests ahead of individual milestones .. rcb would have won multiple titles. Just remember how many fantastic players have been let go off. Force your management to bring players who will put teams interests first."
Rayudu has urged fans to push the management to turn a corner ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Ambati Rayudu had taken a cheeky dig at RCB fans a day before his X post
A clip of Ambati Rayudu getting disappointed after RCB knocked CSK out went viral on social media and many fans trolled him for his earlier comments. However, when Bengaluru were knocked out, Rayudu put out a video on his Instagram in which he and his IPL 2023 CSK teammates were seen showing the 'five' gesture.
Rayudu probably wanted to tell the RCB fans that CSK had five trophies. Here's the video:
Although RCB once again failed to win the IPL, they did have some magnificent performances from some of their players. While Virat Kohli seems an obvious retention, it will be interesting to see how RCB choose their other options, depending on the final number of retentions decided.