'Don’t want to lose Fair Play points' - Ambati Rayudu recalls hilarious CSK episode involving MS Dhoni

Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu has revealed a funny incident involving him and MS Dhoni during their time at Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Rayudu represented the Men in Yellow from 2018 to 2023.

Rayudu recalled how Dhoni almost pleaded HIM to refrain from protesting on-field decisions by the umpire during the 2019 season. However, interestingly, Dhoni ended up losing his cool and walking onto the field of play following a contentious on-field decision the same year.

“Sometimes, Mahi bhai would tell me — just like a tin roof heats up quickly, I also tend to lose my cool quickly. We would point out to the umpire that a delivery was wide or a no-ball, and he would always tell me, ‘Just focus on batting, don’t raise your hand. I don’t want to lose Fair Play points because of you.’ Interestingly, that same year, he himself walked onto the field — not because of me, but because we were losing," stated Rayudu while speaking on JioHotstar's ‘Cheeky Singles’.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also spoke about the fearsome reputation which Mumbai Indians possessed and his first-hand experience while being a part of the MI camp.

“When I played for MI, the entire dressing room had an unspoken understanding: if someone tried to have a go at us, three or four players would immediately step in to back their teammate. That’s why very few teams ever tried to take on MI. RCB, on the other hand, would go after everyone. Sometimes, they teased me or another MI player once or twice, but eventually, even they realised it wasn’t wise to mess with MI,” he added.

Rayudu has only played for two franchises in his 14-year-long IPL career: MI and CSK. He was instrumental in both franchise's success. All in all, the middle-order batter scored 4348 runs in 204 matches (187 innings) while striking at rate of 127.54.