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"Played For RCB And Did Nothing": Ambati Rayudu Fires Back At Kevin Pietersen's 'Joker' Jibe

Akshita Patel

Ambati Rayudu responds to Kevin Piertersen's IPL banter [Source: @RCBTweets, @rohann__45/X.com]Ambati Rayudu responds to Kevin Piertersen's IPL banter [Source: @RCBTweets, @rohann__45/X.com]

Former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind, and this time, his target was none other than England legend Kevin Pietersen. He responded to the English cricketer’s ‘joker’ comment from the IPL 2024.

The war of words between the two started during the IPL 2024 final between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). 

Rayudu, who was on the broadcast panel, first showed up in an orange waistcoat to back SRH but later switched colours after KKR won the match. Pietersen, seeing the wardrobe change, jokingly called Rayudu a “joker” on live TV. 

Ambati Rayudu Questions Kevin Pietersen’s Achievements 

What seemed like light-hearted banter quickly turned into a social media storm. Now, months later, Ambati Rayudu has fired back at Kevin Pietersen. 

On a recent podcast wit Shubhankar Mishra, he opened up about the incident and threw a brutal dig at Pietersen’s own IPL record, saying he achieved nothing while playing for RCB.

The former CSK star further revealed that Pietersen later apologised to him privately, admitting he should not have said such words on air. But Rayudu was clear; it did not affect him much, though Pietersen felt the heat of the backlash.

"That day we had not picked teams. Chennai was hot, so I had two jackets. On air, he said whatever, but we could also tell him things because he played for RCB and did not do anything. I was maintaining professional decorum. He apologized also later that I should not have said that on air. We were just having banter, but people took it in some way. But it affected him more and not me," Rayudu said.

Looking back at Pietersen’s IPL numbers for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rayudu’s words carry some sting. Pietersen played for the franchise in 2009 and 2010 but managed only 93 runs in six games in 2009 and 236 runs from seven matches in 2010, hardly the impact expected from a superstar.

Pietersen Also Issued A Clarification

That being said, after the heat on Ambati Rayudu got intense, Kevin Pietersen had to clarify his stand later on X (formerly Twitter). He said that tribalism against Indian players shouldn’t be promoted, and the abuse against Rayudu must stop.

"Come on guys! This tribalism with/against Indian players on social media needs to slow down! Example -  @RayuduAmbati and I were messing around after the IPL final and all of sudden that banter has turned into an avalanche of abuse towards Ambati. PLEASE stop it? 🙏🏽," Pietersen wrote in his tweet.

While the spat may have started as casual banter, Rayudu’s fiery response has added spice to an already heated rivalry between players-turned-commentators.