'He gets frustrated': Ambati Rayudu reveals Jadeja's issue at CSK involving MS Dhoni

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ambati Rayudu has claimed that during his playing days, he, alongside Ravindra Jaedja, struggled with the notion that fans came to watch MS Dhoni first and the franchise later.

Rayudu made the rather uncharacteristic comment ahead of CSK's final league match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) which could decide if the team advances to the playoffs or not.

"Even when you hit a six and a four the crowd is silent, me and Jadeja felt that in the last few years. Ireallybelieve when I say this, that CSK fans are MS Dhoni fans first, and CSK fans later. Even Jadeja gets frustrated, but he cannot do anything," Rayudu said onStar Sports.

Dhoni is an undisputed crowd favourite in India. Even when CSK are playing away from home, the majority of the crowd dons a CSK jersey with Dhoni on the backside. In what has possibly been his final few years on the IPL circuit, fans have come out in even greater numbers to cheer the former Indian captain.

While Jadeja may have been frustrated with the conduct of the fans towards other CSK players, Dhoni appears to be on cordial terms with all. The former CSK captain was seen hugging Jadeja passionately after the final against Gujarat Titans last year where the all-rounder smashed 10 runs on the last two deliveries to seal another IPL trophy for the franchise.

Dhoni on his future

Quizzed about his retirementafter CSK won the final, Dhoni said he wanted to come back for the fans one more time.

“Circumstantially if you see, this is the best time to announce my retirement. But the amount of love and affection I have been shown wherever I have been this year, the easy thing would be for me to say ‘Thank you very much’, but the tough thing for me is to work hard for another ninemonths and come back and play at least onemore season of IPL,” Dhoni told commentator Harsha Bhogle.

"A lot depends on the body, I have 6-7 months to decide. It will be more like a gift from my side, it's not easy for me but that's a gift. The way they've shown their love and affection, I think that's something I need to do for them," he added.

Dhoni underwent a knee surgery and despite playing no professional cricket since then, has been one of the most dangerous death-over batters in the league.

CSK squad:

Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Avanish Rao Aravelly.

(With inputs from agencies)