Ambati Rayudu interview: On IPL 2024, his stint at CSK and dabbling in politics

A lot can change in a year; Ambati Rayudu knows that.

Last May, he was jumping with joy at the Chennai Super Kings’ dugout in Ahmedabad, having contributed to one of IPL’s most memorable finals that the men in yellow won off the last ball. Late into the night, MS Dhoni would receive the trophy and hand it over to a beaming Rayudu in his last IPL match as a cricket player.

This May, Rayudu — now a commentator with Star Sports and talking about the game with as much passion as he once played it — was desolate, as he saw his former team get knocked out of TATA IPL 2024 on a rainy Saturday evening in Bangalore. In a video that is now going viral among cricket fans, Rayudu sits, his face buried in his hands, in disbelief.

Rayudu was showing his emotions, like he has always done. “Yes, I am an emotional being,” he tells me over a virtual conversation, a day before the CSK-RCB match, “I’ve always wanted things to be fair, and always fought for what I believe is right.”

Currently, the six-time IPL champion is busy with a hectic commentary stint. It is not something he would have fancied when he was a player, but Rayudu is enjoying it nevertheless. “I didn’t know if I would be good at it, because I hardly spoke during my playing days. But, with friends and family, I used to love discussing cricket. I pride myself as being a good student of the game and trying to understand its various intricacies. Broadcasting and commentating are new to me and I’m slowly trying to understand how things work, though many a time, I speak from the heart. I’m just happy I am still connected to the sport.”

Batting for CSK

IPL 2024 might have ended on a sour note for CSK, but Dhoni and Jadeja — the two men who were at the crease during the last moments of the recent Bangalore game — have been Chennai’s favourite IPL stars for many years now. Recalling the moments leading up to the famous CSK win of 2023, Rayudu says, “Remember Dhoni lifting Jadeja after he won us the game? We all know what CSK means to Dhoni, but it proved what it meant to Jadeja, who has been the team’s go-to man, be it batting, bowling or fielding.”

Rayudu was a star with Mumbai Indians in the earlier editions of IPL but has been vocal about his support for Chennai Super Kings, with which he had a successful stint. So, what is the amazing team environment that everyone raves about? “CSK is family. They let you be. At CSK, you are treated just the way you are treated at home; I’m not saying there is no pressure to win, but it’s the way you are treated at home, with parents or siblings. Every player feels like he belongs. The management and the support staff never speaks negatively and never puts you down. Even players who are not playing are constantly looked after; when that happens, you want to give your best. Say, if a player’s capacity is to score a 50 off 20 balls, due to this environment, you would like to do it in 18. This is why many players, who might not have played so well for other franchises, bloom here.” What also helps is the loyalty factor among players; someone like an MS Dhoni has been with the team since its inception. “Even after his retirement, I’m sure he will be associated with the team in a major capacity.”

Rayudu has been associated with Indian cricket for a long time — playing for India was the most memorable moment of his career — but he feels that the IPL, conceptualised in 2008, has brought the game closer to fans. “They understand T-20 cricket better, and they identify more with the players. The league is also a game-changer in terms of identifying talent. Previously, even if you were a talented player, you could get lost in the system if you are not identified by a certain set of selectors. But the IPL has been a great platform and throws the spotlight on players; a cricketer like Ashutosh Sharma (Punjab Kings) might not have been identified if he played only for the Railways. That’s the beauty of the IPL.”

The cricketer also dabbled in politics for a while, and this election season, he actively supported popular actor and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan. He hopes to play an active role in public life in the future. “I believe sport can be a unifying factor in bringing people together,” says Rayudu, who also runs a foundation in Guntur that helps people from disadvantaged sections of society,“I believe equal opportunities should be available; I have suffered in the past due to a lot of factors. I hope that a player, even without any godfather, should be able to play the sport just based on his or her talent. I’m looking forward to playing an important role in developing Andhra Pradesh as a better place to live in.”

Watch TATA IPL playoffs and final this week on the Star Sports Network

If Muthiah Muralidharan didn’t take to the cricket ground, he may have been running a biscuit factory today.

But he did; playing the sport from an early age, with dreams of becoming a fast bowler for Sri Lanka. “When I was young, I just wanted to bowl really fast,” Murali tells us, recalling growing up at a hostel at St Antony’s College, Kandy. Someone pointed out that he did not have the height for that, and so he changed track, and bowled off-spin. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Muralidharan today sits tall among all-time cricketing legends. In a career spanning from 1992 to 2010, Murali — as he is fondly called — has bagged 800 wickets, making him the leading wicket-taker of all time in international test cricket.

His biopic, set to release in October 2023, is titled 800. Starring Madhurr Mittal in the lead role and directed by MS Sripathy, it hopes to narrate not just his impressive showing in the international cricketing scene, but also his many struggles along the way.

800’s journey started due to two childhood friends from Chennai; Tamil filmmaker Venkat Prabhu and Madhimalar, now Muralidharan’s wife. “They lived in the same neighbourhood in Chennai (RA Puram). When Venkat came over for lunch, I showed him all my trophies and he suggested that my life was ideal for a biopic. I was hesitant initially, but my manager said that it would help our foundation (Foundation of Goodness, his NGO in Sri Lanka), and we went ahead.”

Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi was originally selected to play Murali, but that decision hit a roadblock when local political leaders and members of the film fraternity suggested that the actor avoids the biopic since the cricketer once made comments perceived to be in support of the war waged by Sri Lankan forces against the LTTE. Madhurr Mittal, known for his role in Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, walked in to play the lead. “He (Madhurr) has nailed it, be it my bowling action or my body language,” quips Murali.

800 will also take us back to Murali’s childhood in Kandy, where he first took to the sport. Recalls Murali, “My school had strict rules and regulations. There was a timetable — to get up, wash our clothes and study, but the time I looked most forward to was between 3 and 5.30 in the afternoon, when we went out to play. We had a big school ground, and at that time, there would be almost 600 people playing tennis-ball cricket. I started training seriously when I was eight.” When he won the Bata Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year in 1991 — thanks to a whopping 127 wickets in 14 matches — Muralitharan was noticed by the cricketing fraternity, which led him to be picked for a tour to England.

It was an impressive career, with teams across the world fearing his vicious spin when he came to bowl, but it was not one without controversy.

On the 1995 Boxing Day Test, a much-celebrated cricketing event, Muralidharan — well known for his unorthodox bowling technique — was called out by Australian umpire Darrell Hair for what he thought was an illegal action. The months that ensued were among Muralitharan’s most trying times, something that he says has been captured in detail in 800 as well.

How does he look back at that phase? “I’ll be honest with you. We didn’t have television when I grew up, and so, I have never seen myself bowl on television. I thought I bowled pretty much like my captain, Nuwan Kalpage (Sri Lankan cricketer). The first time I saw myself bowling on TV was when I played a day-night game when I was 17; even for me, it was very different. So, I can imagine the doubts in Darrel Hair’s mind. What I was most disappointed and shocked is that he chose the Boxing Day Test to call me out and not earlier; he had watched me bowl on previous occasions. But I have no regrets; my policy in life is to forgive and forget.”

Murali also had a successful stint with the Chennai Super Kings during the IPL’s first few years. He fondly remembers the camaraderie that existed with the team then, and says that he follows the journey of CSK till date. “IPL is special for every cricketer. When the idea of IPL was announced, I was excited and really wanted to play for Chennai, as I have close links with the city and the State of Tamil Nadu. I remember the late cricketer, VB Chandrasekar, telling me that N Srinivasan’s order during the first IPL auctions was to first bid for “Dhoni and Murali.” We were the first two cricketers to be selected for CSK, and we did really well in the first few years. It was like family,” recalls the cricketer, who subsequently played for Kochi Tuskers and Royal Challengers Bangalore and is now among the coaching staff of Sunrisers Hyderabad.