"With him in the team, I will never win the Fairplay Award" - When MS Dhoni hilariously trolled Ambati Rayudu after CSK's 2023 IPL triumph
MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won the Indian Premier League for a record-equaling fifth time in 2023. They beat Gujarat Titans in a thrilling final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad by five wickets (DLS method). The summit clash of 2023 was also the last IPL match for Ambati Rayudu.
It proved to be a perfect farewell for Rayudu, as he contributed a crisp 19 off eight balls in CSK's chase, hitting one four and two sixes. In the post-match presentation, Dhoni trolled the retiring Rayudu in a light-hearted manner and quipped that he would never win a Fairplay Award with Rayudu in the team (due to Rayudu's combative nature). The then CSK skipper said (as quoted by NDTV):
"The special thing about Rayudu is he will always give his 100% when he is on his field. But with him in the team, I will never win the Fairplay Award."
The CSK keeper-batter then went on to praise Rayudu and hailed his attitude, while also recalling his long association with the Andhra Pradesh-born cricketer.
"He always wants to contribute and he has been a fantastic cricketer. I've been playing with him for a long time, since the India A tours. He's a player who can play spin and pace equally well. It is something really special. I felt he would do something really special, I'm really happy for him," Dhoni said.
"This game will be one he will remember, he's also like me - not someone who uses the phone often. What's important is that he has had a fantastic career and I hope he enjoys the next phase of his life," the 43-year-old added, while concluding his tribute to Rayudu.
Rayudu played 16 matches for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023, scoring 257 runs at an average of 28.55 and a strike rate of 151.17, with two half-centuries. Overall, he featured in 175 matches in the IPL and scored 3,916 runs at an average of 29.44 and a strike rate of 127.47, with one hundred and 21 fifties.
A star for CSK, Ambati Rayudu had a stop-start international career
Once considered among the brightest batting talents in the country, Rayudu (39) somehow couldn;t fulfill his promise at the top level. In a stop-start international career, he played 55 ODIs, scoring 1,694 runs at an average of 47.05 and a strike rate of 79.04, with three hundreds and 10 fifties. The right-handed batter also played six T20Is, scoring 42 runs.
The cricketer's career suffered a massive setback when he was dropped for the 2019 ODI World Cup in favor of Vijay Shankar. He was never picked for India again, but the decision to axe Rayudu and pick Shankar from the ICC event remains one of the BCCI's most controversial selection moves.