“Hope Ambati Rayudu Is Doing Okay”: Ex-CSK The Target Of Trolls After RCB’s Win At Chepauk, Reply Is Classic

Royal Challengers Bengaluru notched a memorable win over Chennai Super Kings on Friday. The Rajat Patidar-led side won by 50 runs, and it was the first time since 2008 that RCB had won against CSK in Chennai. Former CSK star Ambati Rayudu is a quite a vocal supporter of the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side and before the match said, “Purely as a fan, and as someone who had really good laughter at them over the years because of what they do to themselves, I would want them to win sometime, but not this year, maybe. We want CSK to do well and win it this year. In the end, we need someone like RCB in the IPL (laughs).”

After the match ended, a RCB fan group trolled Rayudu and the reply was classic. “Hahahaha good one .. @rcbfans.official This is exactly how banter is supposed to be.. you guys have a great team this year and you can hope for the best.” he wrote in an Instagram post. 

Ambati Rayudu earlier said the phenomenal support Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoys from the CSK fans has gradually morphed into an unhealthy obsession which is daunting for other batters to handle as the crowd is always anticipating their early dismissal so that they can see their ‘Thala’ bat. Rayudu said the fans’ support is first for Dhoni and then for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and probably in future it may hurt the team’s branding which has always revolved around one man.

“It is quite daunting if you’re a newcomer. It’s quite loud. The support is phenomenal. But, as you go on and play, then you realise they are MS Dhoni fans before they are CSK fans,” Rayudu told ESPNcricinfo.

“It is quite evident, and rightly so, because that’s the way the team has been set up and built over the years. He’s rightly named Thala (leader) and he has been calling the shots in CSK, and it’s come to a stage where people are madly in awe and in love of what he’s done for CSK.” The 43-year-old Dhoni, who retired from international cricket in 2020, began batting lower down the order in the IPL and also quit captaincy last year to facilitate a smooth transition.

He comes to bat at either number seven or eight, and gets hardly 10-15 balls in a match, curtailing his crease time considerably.

Since he does not bat for a long time, the fans go berserk when the charismatic former India captain starts his walk to the crease.

Rayudu said it’s been happening for quite a few years now, and several players have felt it even though they have not said it openly.

“…but internally, a lot of people used to feel that the crowd even though we also love MS Dhoni, and they also love MS Dhoni and we want to see him bat, but sometimes when you, as an individual, are going out to bat they are shouting from the crowd to… literally asking you to get out. Or they are anticipating or expecting you to get out.” “So it is quite strange, and I don’t think it actually serves the game well to be very honest. All the (other) players are giving their best for the team as well and they have put in a lot of sacrifice to be where they are. When things like that happen from their own crowd, I feel, maybe it can be avoided.” Rayudu said there is nothing wrong about a player’s superstar status but hinted that after Dhoni hangs his boots, the side will struggle to pull crowd.

With PTI inputs