Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has released a statement on his comments about Ambati Rayudu being a joker at a post-match show following Sunday’s IPL 2024 final between the Kolkata Knight Riders and SunRisers Hyderabad.
Pietersen took to X to demand an end to the tribalism directed towards Indian players, stating that Rayudu and he were merely playing about.
Before the game, Pietersen was cheering for the Knight Riders, while Rayudu was cheering for the SunRisers and had on an orange outfit. But after the game, the former had changed into a purple suit, which made Pietersen mock Rayudu. Pietersen said to Rayudu in a post-match broadcast the following:
No way Kevin Pietersen called Ambati Rayudu a Joker on live TV.#IPLFinal pic.twitter.com/LYigudOhig
— RCBIANS OFFICIAL (@RcbianOfficial) May 27, 2024
“I’ve at least held firm. I wore it and I owned it. You are a joker, always a joker,” Pietersen went on to say.
Kevin Pietersen released an official statement about Ambati Rayudu:
The headlines have been dominated by former Indian batsman Ambati Rayudu and cricketer Kevin Pietersen since the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the IPL 2024 final on May 26 in Chennai.
Subsequently, Rayudu was subjected to intense criticism by Kohli’s supporters for unfairly singling out the Indian batting sensation. This incident attracted the attention of an English pundit, who advised the supporters to desist from mistreating the former CSK batter on social media.
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? 🙏🏽
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) May 28, 2024
He posted on X: “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’s support of his fellow pundits is greatly appreciated. Rayudu has not yet replied to the support mail from the Pietermaritzburg native.
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