‘It’s not Orange Cap that wins you IPL’ - Ambati Rayudu’s cheeky dig at Virat Kohli following KKR’s third IPL win

After Kolkata Knight Riders’ eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL final, former cricketer Ambati Rayudu spoke on the importance of the contribution of all players in the title win campaign. He noted that all the batters of KKR stepped up from time to time, which helped the franchise in the 17th edition of the tournament. 

Notably, Sunil Narine finished as KKR’s leading run-scorer in 2024, with 488 runs to his name in 15 matches. Phil Salt made 435 runs, while Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer made 370 and 354 runs respectively. Rayudu noted the importance of this as he believes that to win a tournament, a team cannot depend on one individual. While explaining so, Rayudu eventually took a dig at star India batter Virat Kohli and stated that Orange Cap does not necessarily win a franchise an IPL trophy.

“Congratulations to the KKR team for really standing up for stalwarts like Narine, Russell and Starc and also contribute their share in the team's win. That’s how a team wins the IPL. We have seen this over the years. It’s not the Orange Cap that wins you the IPL but it is the contributions like 300 runs each (of many players),” Rayudu said while talking to Star Sports.

Virat Kohli made 741 runs in the ongoing IPL and played a massive part in helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2024. The Faf du Plessis-led defeated Chennai Super Kings in their final league, which was also a do-or-die affair for both teams and made it to the playoffs. After RCB’s win over CSK, Ambati first took at Kohli and on the franchise.

He stated that the people sitting in the management and players put themselves first over the franchise and stated that to be the reason behind RCB being trophyless.

“My heart truly goes out to all the rcb supporters who have passionately supported the team over the years. If only the management and the leaders had the teams interests ahead of individual milestones .. rcb would have won multiple titles. Just remember how many fantastic players have been let go off. Force your management to bring players who will put teams interests first. A great new chapter can start from the mega auction,” Rayudu tweeted a week back.