Ambati Rayudu announced his retirement from international and Indian domestic cricket after helping Chennai Super Kings win the Indian Premier League final earlier this year. The right-handed batter decided to play in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League tournament. He became only the second Indian player after Pravin Tambe, to play in the league as he was picked up by the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
Notably, the veteran played just four games for the franchise, the last being on August 26. The organisers stated that the soon-to-be 38-year-old left the tournament citing personal reasons. Rayudu, however, revealed that he had signed a contract till August 28 with the Patriots as he had some prior commitments lined up. He left the team only after finishing his agreement.
“I have agreed to play in the cpl only till the 28th of August as I have had prior commitments.. so as stated in the media I have not pulled out but finished my agreement.. thank you @CPL and @sknpatriots,” Rayudu posted on his official ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) handle.
I have agreed to play in the cpl only till the 28 th of August as I have had prior commitments.. so as stated in the media I have not pulled out but finished my agreement.. thank you @CPL and @sknpatriots 🙏
— ATR (@RayuduAmbati) September 1, 2023
Ambati Rayudu’s difficult CPL 2023 campaign
Ambati Rayudu has played some phenomenal knocks in the IPL over the years. His last IPL innings was a whirlwind 19-run cameo that came off just 8 balls and helped the Super Kings win a riveting final. However, Rayudu’s first CPL stint didn’t turn out to be as memorable.
The stylish batter ended with 47 runs in the three innings he played. He averaged 15.66 and had a strike rate of 117.50 after the four matches he played in the CPL 2023. The Patriots are yet to win a game in the tournament thus far. They are languishing at the bottom after playing six games with only two points coming from two abandoned games. They play their seventh match against Guyana Amazon Warriors, in Bridgetown, on Saturday, September 2.