“I feel there are too many individual powerhouses in the side”- Ambati Rayudu feels MI didn’t play IPL 2024 in unity 

Former Mumbai Indians (MI) cricketer Ambati Rayudu reckons the five-time IPL champions didn’t play like a team in IPL 2024 and that’s perhaps one of the main reasons why they had a disastrous season. MI are currently ninth in the points table with just four wins from 13 games.

Rayudu won three titles with Mumbai Indians and claimed that during his time, the culture in the dressing room always focused on the team being above the individual. While he didn’t take any names, the former cricketer feels the current MI team has some individuals who have put their interests ahead of the team.

Speaking on Star Sports Press Room, here’s what Ambati Rayudu had to say about MI:

“I feel Mumbai has always been a setup where the team has always come first. The individuals were part of a team and the owners, players and even Sachin Paaji used to feel that we are all part of one Mumbai Indians team. But right now I feel there are too many individual powerhouses in the side and not just one sort of direction to take.”

Rayudu claimed that the passion from the Mumbai players to play for the badge is something he found lacking in IPL 2024.

Ambati Rayudu on outside noise affecting MI

The transition of captaincy from Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya has been anything but smooth as the fans have heavily scrutinized the MI management’s decision. Ambati Rayudu felt that the added rumours in the media about divided camps in the dressing room certainly made things more complicated for MI.

Claiming that Mumbai need to let some players go if they don’t align with their goals, Ambati Rayudu stated:

“This season right from the start we have seen everyone talk about everything else rather than Mumbai Indians as a team. If there is someone who is not willing to come on board, no matter how tough it is, you have to get rid of them and get players who want to play for the team. I am sure they would want to build a side where everyone wants to play for Mumbai Indians than their own self.”

MI just have one game remaining in their season, against the Lucknow Super Giants on May 17. They can play spoilsport as if they beat Lucknow, the latter would probably get knocked out of the playoffs because of their poor net run rate.