1 Month After Pulling Out Of MLC Stint With Texas Super Kings, Former CSK Batter Ambati Rayudu Confirms CPL 2023 Participation

Ambati Rayudu is all in readiness to become only the second Indian Men’s cricketer to participate in the Caribbean Premier League. Part of Chennai Super Kings‘ title-winning Indian Premier League campaign earlier this year, Rayudu will be plying his trade for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the forthcoming 11th season of the CPL.

The move has come just one month after Rayudu had withdrawn from a maiden stint for Texas Super Kings in the recently concluded inaugural season of the Major League Cricket.

With neither of Rayudu’s 61 white-ball matches for India having come in either North or South America, it is pretty much a novel journey for a player who called time on a two-decade long career an hour before IPL 2023 final against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in May.

Former CSK Batter Ambati Rayudu Confirms CPL 2023 Participation

Having faced him just twice in the IPL, Rayudu will join former spinner Pravin Tambe among Indian players with CPL stints to their name. For the unversed, Tambe had played three matches for Trinbago Knight Riders in 2020.

“I’m really excited to be joining the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. I look forward to having a positive contribution for the team in the upcoming CPL 2023,” Rayudu said in a statement.

Had former CSK and West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo not returned back to Knight Riders for CPL 2023, Rayudu would’ve shared Patriots’ dressing room with someone whom he has shared Chennai’s dressing room for five seasons in a row between 2018-2022.

Why Did Ambati Rayudu Pull Out Of MLC Stint?

Rayudu, who pulled out of MLC 2023 with less than a week remaining for the start of the tournament, hadn’t provided any official reason at the time.

That being said, his decision was immediately linked to BCCI’s proposition around implementing a year-long cooling-off period for retired players before allowing them to take part in overseas T20 leagues.

While how much of this played a part in Rayudu’s decision can’t be confirmed, him looking to play CPL 2023 would be happening less than three months after the culmination of IPL 2023.

Why Does BCCI Want To Implement A One-Year Cooling-Off Period?

BCCI, world’s richest cricket board, has always been averse to the prospect of their cricketers playing in T20 leagues administered by rival boards. A move which has somehow affected the T20 betterment of Indian cricketers, especially specialists (who are already few), is quite insecure in nature.

Furthermore, in case of a retired 37-year old player such as Rayudu, it makes no sense whatsoever in not letting the concerned individual explore opportunities anywhere else for a full year.

BCCI, who usually boasts of its bench strength on the back of hundreds of cricketers playing domestic cricket for as many as 38 teams, should also not worry about a few of them retiring at an early age in order to find lucrative financial opportunities elsewhere.

Considering how anyone in contention for either the Indian cricket team or an IPL franchise would rarely walk down that road, the cricket board should instead readily groom players by letting them play in other countries and conditions.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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