Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ambati Rayudu who retired from the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the title win against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the previous edition has announced his return to the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise. Rayudu will play for MI Emirates in the upcoming edition of ILT20. The 38-year-old announced his decision a day after quitting YSR Congress Party.
“I Ambati Rayudu will be representing the Mumbai Indians in the upcoming ILt20 from jan 20th in Dubai. Which requires me to be politically non affiliated whilst playing professional sport,” the Andhra Pradesh-born cricketer wrote on X.
Rayudu had announced on January 6 that he had decided to stay out of politics within a few days of joining the party.
“This is to inform everyone that I have decided to quit the YSRCP Party and stay out of politics for a little while. Further action will be conveyed in due course of time,” he posted.
Rayudu will be reunited with former IPL teammates Corey Anderson, Dwayne Bravo, and Kieron Pollard at MI Emirates. He will be playing under the leadership of newly-appointed captain Nicholas Pooran.
Rayudu will make his ILT20 debut against David Warner-led Dubai Capitals on January 20 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Rayudu had played for MI till 2017. Under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s leadership, he was part of the CSK side that won three IPL titles.
He has scored 4,348 runs in 204 IPL games at an average of 28.23 including one century and 22 half-centuries. His strike rate is 127.54. In his farewell IPL season, he went through a rough patch scoring just 158 runs from 16 games.
Interestingly, in 2022, Rayudu made a U-turn on his decision to retire from the IPL. He announced his retirement via social media but deleted the post.
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