Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dubey led CSK to their fifth IPL title.

“I’ll never win a fairplay award with him on the team. But what I remember him for is that he’s always 100%.”

That was MS Dhoni against Ambati Rayudu at short. The angry, often challenging and emotional character that Rayudu can be, was crying inconsolably after the winners were beaten in the IPL final. He announced his retirement two days ago and promised there would be no turning back.

It was a stunning end to a career that had its fair share of moments in the sun and moments that had the potential to spiral out of control. Just in the year In 2018, Rayudu was in limbo for more than two weeks after he was dropped from the Indian team due to a failed yo-yo trial.

A few months ago, Rayudu was front and center in CSK’s impressive title run. He scored 602 runs in 16 innings and struck at 149.75. The dream of a World Cup was burning brightly, but Rayudu failed in the belief that “no qualification, no World Cup”.

Kasi Viswanathan, a calm man who swears by CSK’s CEO and players as the “voice of reason”, helped Rayudu to get him back on track. Part of the exercise was to mentor youngsters selected by CSK in the Yorkshire exchange programme.

Viswanathan left no stone unturned to reach Rayudu who, in Dhoni’s own words, “doesn’t use a mobile phone much”. And so angry at the system and himself, on the verge of leaving, Ryudu returns, re-energized. He thanked “Kasi sir” for helping him find his fire again. Two weeks later, he cleared the Yo-Yo test and forced his way back into contention, first against India A and the India team.

Ryudu is a man of few words. His anger on the field can sometimes shock you if you’re used to the polite person off the field. He smiles more than he talks. Monday night’s character was an emotional man, but he was content to stand as he walked away victorious.

In the year Touted as one of the future in 2002, playing in the Under-19 World Cup in 2004, to the demise of the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) and then a return to the mainstream, Rayudu’s career has been one of unfulfilled promise. In Ahmedabad on Monday night, he was part of his sixth IPL crown, three each against CSK and Mumbai Indians.

“I can smile for the rest of my life,” Rayudu said Tuesday morning, wiping away tears. “I’m happy that all the hard work I’ve put in over the last 30 years has come to fruition tonight.”

It was Rayudu’s clutch contribution, without which CSK’s late heist might not have had legs at all. It is an age-old story of how an underdog in the tournament buckled under the pressure and unleashed a sensational attack on the best death bowler in the tournament.

He was simply looking to hold his form, stand deep in Krishna and let his emotions take over. It’s easier said than done, but being able to execute when everything is on the line not only speaks to his class, but also his composure. He went 6, 4, 6 against Mohit Sharma. 18 off 39, the equation reduced to 23 off 15.

“Ambati Rayudu is an absolute legend,” coach Stephen Fleming said at the post-final press conference. “Those three balls against Mohit Sharma today proved the reason. Mohit is one of the dead balls and the way Rayudu bowled for 6, 4, 6 was a clean class. So, it leaves a hole.” [in the team going forward], there is no doubt but the game will continue to move. He’s separated mentally and physically, it’s time to go. We respected that, it was emotional for him and the team for him to go out like that. I am very pleased with it. I am very happy with what he has contributed to CSK.

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In December 2022, Viswanathan had a brief discussion with Fleming and Dhoni regarding the possibility of signing Ajinkya Rahane ahead of the auction. Fleming praised Rahane’s work ethic and strongly supported his inclusion in the shortlist, despite a final call to select him at the time. Dhoni is believed to have told Viswanathan, “If we can get the jinx, there’s no point.”

Fleming had previously worked with Rahane at Rising Pune Supergiants and knew his pedigree. Although it was at the end of his career, he felt a beat with great potential here. Getting him at base price, Viswanathan says, is a “bonus”. They had budgeted “a bit more than that” – he was signed for INR 50 lakh (about US$ 60,000).

“Halfway through preseason training, I saw a guy,” Fleming said. He was not in our first thought, but the game in Mumbai [where Rahane scored 61 off 27] It was really descriptive.”

Rahane realized he was playing before the toss. Ben Stokes was injured, Moeen Ali was not fit, and CSK had to adjust their top order. This was a return to the IPL of sorts. His career had come to an end. He has not hit an IPL fifty since 2020. He has not played in a Test for over a year. And they feared his time was over if he didn’t get a run for Kolkata Knight Riders before pulling out midway through an injury last year. To his credit, Rahane returned to domestic cricket to regain his “happy state” and immediately turned heads with his first knock in the IPL this season.

Suddenly, Rahane’s form in the WTC finals in the absence of Shreyas Iyer led to speculation around him to give some experience to India’s middle order. Certainly the selectors felt that way and he was rewarded with a recall.

You wouldn’t have expected Rahane to enter at No. 4 in the cut-scoring game on Monday night. But his six-hit stance and improved focus on going hard from the ball convinced the team’s management that it was a “good call”. Rahane played the two most impressive balls in the match. It was the first home run. Karthik Krishnaswamy in ESPNcricinfo’s Football Commentary: “Baseball makes it more than a midwife.”

The second innings, one ball later, brought back Sachin Tendulkar’s Desert Storm sensation. “Straight ground, amazing shot, all wayyy for six.” You can hear his mind repeating that in Tony Gregg’s booming voice. If beauty was an Olympic sport, Rahane was hands down a gold medallist. The exact role of this uncapped version of Rahane (faced at least 20 balls), who finished the season with the best strike rate (232.39) as a high-speed bowler, has fallen on clarity.

“My understanding is that we’ve gotten rid of the label of being the guy you kick around or hit,” Fleming said. “I think maybe he got a little bit hung over his head and didn’t let him be the player he could be. And after that tag was gone, it was one of the best wins in the tournament, and he was. He’s a big motivator behind him, so he solidified that No. 3 spot.”

“He was unwavering the whole way, he was nothing but positive, the nets are positive. Anytime he’s caught on the boundary or plays a big shot, we’ve reinforced how well he’s playing. So a little bit. Confidence and full ability – he’s been a great player for us this year.”

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Shivam Dubey had mid IPL 2022. Short balls that stuck fast to his body were his weakness. Injuries in the build-up to the season have left the team management with little time to work on the game. So they decided to strengthen their strength instead. It was his ability to use his long tendrils to muscle spin for six seconds. Dube first marked his season when he hit five sixes in five balls in a T20 match in Mumbai. Yuzvendra Chahal, Rashid Khan and Sunil Narine worked to restore that ferocity against the quality spin.

Monday Dube had a memorable start. He needed 11 off 12 and CSK 54 off 24. The pressure was increasing. He couldn’t stop the ball in time. They weren’t giving him the length to swing to the mound. When he tries to hit too much, he keeps losing his form.

And then he went boom, he blasted at the clutch bowler, Rashid. It was a wrong’un that went wrong; He was right on the bat and Dube picked him early to go straight down the ground. The next ball was a similar length, but leg break. Again, Dube takes it early, clears his front leg and hits him on the spinner. Those two shots brought CSK back. At the other end, the Ryudu stream leads to the beginning.

“It took a few games to bring Dube in and use him in an offensive role,” Fleming said. “We weren’t sure but he played a defining innings against RCB. [in Bengaluru where he scored 52 off 27] He really stamped his authority and then, through those middlemen, he was helpful to us. That’s what it takes with an impact player.”

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Perhaps there was no bigger boost on the night than Ravindra Jadeja. The man who dismissed Shubman Gill to give CSK an early breakthrough was at the end to see his team home. This was the moment Jadeja was waiting for after feeling a bit frustrated by the Chennai fans. CSK needed 10 balls in the last two overs with the fans wanting Dhoni to come in to bat.

They were all praying hard. The captain could not see. Jadeja knew he had to swing and swing hard. And he did. And just like that, all the social media pot and all the tension that seemed to have been created by the secret messages of “karma” and “knowing my worth” went down the drain. It was an incomparable joy. Dhoni couldn’t control his emotions. Yadeja ran as fast as he met knowing they had won. He didn’t even bother to look back. Everyone was trying to catch him. Everyone was running in circles. It was delirium.

They say there are no myths in sports. This was great, for CSK; In the year When Jadeja left the camp in 2022, there was nothing he didn’t see. Jadeja deleted any mention of CSK on his Instagram account. He was screaming, later captured by Kajo and returned to the barracks. Here he is now, at the top of the stage, under intense pressure. Jadeja became the newChina Tala‘ .

“It was a tough 18 months, when captaincy was tough, the injury was tough. He took some time out of the game and got motivated to come back into the Test game and join CSK,” Fleming said. “He plays a big role on the ball, but we have so much firepower that we use him down in some ways. But something has to give, and MS was very supportive and active in getting him up there.

“And he repaid that belief today. That six spells a clean ball. And then a good left-hand drive off his good foot was a good way to finish. I couldn’t be happier. He. He was frustrating at times, but he’s our gunner, our No. 1- He’s a player, and he delivered today.

It was a drama-filled season finale. It was the end of a journey that started in mid-February when Fleming and CSK realized they needed to put something together out of nowhere given their injury list.

It was ultimately symbolic that Dhoni, whose image was damaged at the end of his days, with his knees on braces and fighting back from the millions of squats he had done, lifted Jadeja in one move.

You can’t write any script for it.