Kevin Pietersen issues an official statement on Ambati Rayudu after calling him a joker

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen and former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu have been ruling the headlines since a few moments after the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the IPL 2024 trophy by crushing Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the final in Chennai on May 26.

It is quite visible that Rayudu doesn’t like either Royal Challengers Bangaluru (RCB) or Virat Kohli, and many times during the commentary, he proved that. Recently, during the IPL 2024 Final between KKR and SRH, Pietersen clashed with Rayudu for his unfair analysis of Kohli.

Pietersen called out Rayudu on live TV for asking Kohli to 'ease' his standards to help other players. And then, after the final game, the former England batter called the former Indian batter “joker” for flipping his side once KKR won the IPL trophy for the third time.

Kevin Pietersen urges fans to stop abusing Ambati Rayudu

After which, Kohli’s fans went berserk at Rayudu, slamming him for unnecessarily targeting the Indian batting superstar, and it caught the attention of the English commentator as he urged the fans to stop abusing the former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter on social media.

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? 🙏🏽”

Come on guys!

This tribalism with/against Indian players on social media needs to slow down!

Example - @<!---->R<!---->a<!---->y<!---->u<!---->d<!---->u<!---->A<!---->m<!---->b<!---->a<!---->t<!---->i 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) M<!---->a<!---->y<!----> <!---->2<!---->8<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

Here's how the drama unfolded after the IPL 2024 Final

Notably, Ambati Rayudu made a series of controversial remarks about the RCB and Virat Kohli while commentating on the IPL 2024. However, his comments caught the most attention during the IPL 2024 final, when he openly targeted Kohli by saying it’s not the orange cap that wins you trophies.

And then after the match, speaking on Star Sports, Rayudu said that Kohli has set really high standards, and it is very, very hard for youngsters to match his standards because the RCB wants the team to be at that standard.

Hearing that Pietersen and Matthew Hayden were quick to intervene, as they noted that Kohli’s high standards should be a source of motivation for the youngsters.

Well, its not done there, as Pietersen labeled Rayudu a "joker" on Live TV during the post-match show in Chennai after the commentator replaced his orange jacked with the purple one during the IPL 2024 Final after KKR won the game against SRH.

Pietersen had said, “I've at least held firm. I wore it, and I owned it. You are a joker, always a joker.” To which Rayudu responded by saying, “I am supporting both teams. I am supporting good cricket.”

Well, this banter went crazily viral on social media, with fans praising the Englishman for calling Rayudu “joker” and showing the mirror to him for his unwarranted rant at Kohli. As the fans were crossing their limits, Pietersen took the stand for Rayudu and urged them not to make his banter a source of their abuse towards the former India batter.