Ambati Rayudu has announced his retirement from the IPL after the IPL 2023 championship game, capping a 13-year career in the competition during which he originally played for the Mumbai Indians and later the Chennai Super Kings.
By tweeting, “2 great teams MI and CSK, 204 matches,14 seasons,11 playoffs,8 finals,5 trophies,” Rayudu announced the news on social media. Possibly sixth tonight. It has been a long road. I’ve made the decision that tonight’s championship game will be my last in the Ipl. I had a great time competing in this fantastic tournament. Thanks to everybody. Not a U-turn this time.”
Rayudu had earlier reversed a retirement statement he had made in 2022, deleting the tweet after speaking with the CSK club management. He had tweeted that he would be retiring after the season.
In the IPL, Rayudu has played in over 200 games and has accumulated over 4000 runs, including one century. His finest performance in the tournament came in 2018, when he scored 602 runs at a strike rate of over 150 with the Mumbai Indians, for whom he earlier played as a part-time wicketkeeper and struck four fifties in the 2011 season.