Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is one of the most successful teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history. After having poor IPL last year (IPL 2020), CSK came back strongly in IPL 2021 and have qualified for the playoffs comfortably with 18 points to their name in 13 matches (9 wins, 4 losses).

Even though the Chennai-based franchise has good cricketers in all the departments, the former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir picked the ‘Player of the franchise’ from the last 3-4 years.

While the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, and Dwayne Bravo have impressed everyone over the years with their amazing performances, Gambhir had a unique preference as he picked Ambati Rayudu as a standout player for CSK in this period.

“I believe Ambati Rayudu has been the player of the franchise since he joined CSK. He scored runs when he opened or played at No.3 or No.4, he has delivered in whichever position he has played. It is very difficult when your batting order is being shuffled but despite that the way he bats,” the ex-cricketer said.

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The left-hand batter then talked about the likes of Jadeja, Raina, Du Plessis, Bravo getting acknowledgement for their performances whereas, Rayudu has been the franchise's unsung hero.

“He had an impact when he used to open with Watson, today he is playing at No.4 and he has a similar impact. We might talk about Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina and the others, but he has probably been the player of the franchise in the last three-four years,” the 39-year-old concluded.

In the total 58 matches Rayudu played for CSK in last four IPL seasons, the right-hand batter has a total of 1495 runs under his belt at an average of 35.59 and a strike-rate of 130.11.

(With TimesNowNews Inputs)