Texas Super Kings’ Ambati Rayudu withdraws from inaugural Major League Cricket due to personal reasons

Multiple-time IPL-winner Ambati Rayudu has withdrawn from the inaugural edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA because of personal reasons, his side Texas Super Kings announced on Twitter.

Had he participated, the right-handed batter would have become the first India international to play in the MLC, having joined by his former teammates like Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Devon Conway and South African David Miller.

Texas Super Kings – owned by the owners of the Chennai Super Kings franchise in the IPL, will begin their MLC 2023 campaign at the Grand Prairie in Texas against the Los Angeles Knight Riders in the opener on July 14.

Rayudu recently tasted success with Chennai Super Kings, winning the IPL 2023 by beating defending champions Gujarat Titans in a rain-hit, three-day stretched Final at Ahmedabad in May. On the day of the IPL 2023 Final, Rayudu informed everyone about his decision to retire from all forms of the game via social media.

A six-time IPL winner (having also won with Mumbai Indians before), Rayudu fared okay with the bat in the recently-concluded season, scoring just 158 runs from 16 games.

In the summit clash against GT, Rayudu played a crucial cameo of 19 from eight balls, hitting two sixes and a four, and on the back of that, CSK chased the revised total of 170 with five wickets in hand.

Rayudu’s rise steered CSK to title win in 2021

After helping Mumbai Indians win their maiden title in 2013, Rayudu’s breakthrough year as a batter came at CSK in 2018 – a year when the franchise returned following a two-year absence from the league. Made to open during that edition alongside Australia’s Shane Watson, Rayudu scored 602 runs in 16 matches, including a hundred.

On the back of an outstanding season, Rayudu became a regular in India’s ODI side and looked like extending his run until the 2019 World Cup in England. However, after his form dipped during the WC year, the right-handed batter was overlooked at the last moment and got replaced by Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar. 

Meanwhile, Rayudu was also part of the CSK squad that won the IPL title three years later in 2021. 

Now, with his final hurray in India’s premier domestic T20 tournament, Rayudu was set to participate in the Major League Cricket.

Texas Super Kings squad for MLC 2023 –

Faf du Plessis (Captain), Milind Kumar, Sami Aslam, Cody Chetty, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Ambati Rayudu, David Miller, Devon Conway, Calvin Savage, Zia Shahzad, Dwayne Bravo, Daniel Sams, Mitchell Santner, Lahiru Milantha, Rusty Theron, Cameron Stevenson and Gerald Coetzee