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#Kevin Pietersen

Following Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) triumph in the IPL 2024 final against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Kevin Pietersen and Matthew Hayden were caught having fun alongside former Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ambati Rayudu.

Before the game, Rayudu was seen wearing an orange waistcoat in support of the Sunrisers Hyderabad while Kevin Pietersen was all purple to show his support for the Knight Riders. Following the one-sided dominance of KKR, Rayudu was spotted without the waistcoat which fellow presenter Mayanti Langer spotted. 

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Pietersen then went on to troll Rayudu for switching sides, stating that “I’ve at least held it firm. I wore it and I owned it. You are a joker, always a joker.” Rayudu responded by saying that he was there to appreciate good cricket. 

It seemed that the friendly altercation ended there, but Rayudu has been hurled with trolls and abuses all over social media following it. 

What did Kevin Pietersen say in defence of Ambati Rayudu?

Rayudu came under some heavy online trolling following the incident has resulted in Pietersen trying to stop the social media haters.

"This tribalism with/against Indian players on social media needs to slow down! Example - Ambati Rayudu and I were messing around after the IPL final and all of sudden that banter has turned into an avalanche of abuse towards Ambati."

Rayudu has been targeted by people on social media for his comments on Virat Kohli as well. The former IPL winner stated that Kohli had high standards, which has resulted in differences in the dressing room. 

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Author(s)
Rahul Chalke Photo

Rahul is a content producer for The Sporting News’ India edition.