Hyderabad: Former Indian cricketer Ambati Tirupati Rayudu joined the YSR Congress Party in the presence of Andhra Pradesh chief minister and the party chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy at the CM camp office in Vijaywada.
AP Deputy chief minister Narayana Swamy and MP Peddireddy Mithun Reddy were present on the occasion.
This comes months ahead of the state Assembly polls and the Lok Sabha polls that are to be held in early 2024.
Rayudu announced his retirement from cricket in 2023 after the Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
It was in April this year that the stylish middle-order batsman, who played 55 ODIs and six T20 internationals for India between 2013 and 2019, had decided to enter politics, saying he wants to serve the people.
However, Rayudu was keeping the political parties in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana guessing as to which outfit he would join.
He had a couple of meetings with Jagan Reddy in May-June, but remained tight-lipped about his political move.
The cricketer, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, finally ended the suspense by joining the YSRCP on Thursday.
Rayudu may contest the Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls or the Lok Sabha elections slated to be held in April-May next year.
Rayudu joined a rare bandwagon of Indian cricketers who have entered politics, including Tiger Pataudi, Kirti Azad, Mohammed Azharuddin, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Chetan Chauhan and Gautam Gambhir, among others.
Rayudu’s disputes with a fellow teammate and the nepotism-rife management during his young days had earned him the tag of a ‘rebel’, and denied him further international opportunities, including the 2019 ODI World cup.
He also appeared in 190 matches for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Rayudu was one of the rebel players who latched on to the opportunity to play for the now-scrapped Indian Cricket League (ICL), before accepting a domestic amnesty offer from the BCCI and entered the IPL.
Rayudu announced his retirement from the IPL in May this year after CSK won the title.
He, along with Rupa Gurunath, daughter of CSK owner N. Srinivasan, had met Jagan Mohan Reddy in June and had shown him the trophy CSK won in 2023.
(With inputs from IANS)
