ambati rayudu in tears ipl 2023 final sportstiger

Picture Credit: Twitter

On May 29, Monday, Ambati Rayudu was spotted on camera in tears after he played a major role in Chennai Super Kings winning the IPL trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in his last match. Just a day prior, the Gutur-born cricketer had announced retirement from the Indian Premier League on social media, in a shocking turn of events, during the build-up to the grand final of the tournament.

During the night of the IPL Final 2023, when Chennai Super Kings needed 39 runs off the last three overs, the 37-year-old batter smashed Mohit Sharma of Gujarat Titans for 16 runs in three balls to turn the tide in his team’s favour. When Rayudu was dismissed by Sharma for 19 runs off eight balls, the winning equation for CSK read 23 runs in 14 balls.

At the very end, Shivam Dube stuck around in the middle to help Ravindra Jadeja in finishing off the final for Chennai. They defeated Gujarat Titans by five wickets on the last ball to win their fifth IPL trophy, equalling the three-year long record tally for Mumbai Indians.

Meanwhile, the short clip in which Ambati Rayudu was in tears, also had both CSK and GT players coming to console him. As one of the unsung heroes of Indian cricket, he ended up winning the IPL for a record six times, three each for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings during his long-standing career.

Watch the video here:

For the unversed, the retirement tweet for the 37-year-old batter read, “2 great teams mind csk,204 matches,14 seasons,11 playoffs,8 finals,5 trophies.hopefully 6th tonight. It’s been quite a journey.I have decided that tonight’s final is going to be my last game in the Ipl.i truly hav enjoyed playing this great tournament.Thank u all. No u turn.”