Abuse against Ambati Rayudu must end: Pietersen condemns trolls after 'joker' remark

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen has encouraged social media users to stop abusing Ambati Rayudu. Rayudu was mocked by cricket fans after Kevin Pietersen described him as a comedian on live television.

Kevin Pietersen, a former England cricketer, has called out social media bullies who are attacking Ambati Rayudu. Rayudu has sparked outrage among fans for mocking Virat Kohli and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Following the completion of the Indian Premier League, Rayudu made a subtle dig at Virat Kohli, claiming that amassing a lot of runs every season does not ensure an IPL trophy. Rayudu went on to say that RCB should have more faith in its young players rather than relying just on Kohli.

Pietersen and Matthew Hayden, commentating on the same panel, chastised Rayudu for his remarks and cited examples of how RCB had shown faith in young players and players such as Rajat Patidar had begun to stand up.

During the same argument, Pietersen referred to Rayudu as a 'joker' after the former India cricketer switched from orange to blue after SRH lost the competition final.

"Thank you for bringing out the fact that he changed from orange to blue," said host Mayanti Langer.

"I've at least held firm. I wore it and I owned it," said Pietersen pointing out towards his purple dress. "You are a joker, always a joker," Pietersen further went on to say.

Meanwhile, the former Indian batsman insisted that he was merely supporting good cricket.

"I am supporting both the teams. I am supporting good cricket," responded Rayudu.

This resulted in a barrage of hate for Rayudu on social media, with cricket fans calling him out for the supposed agenda.

Pietersen, on the other hand, appeared on Tuesday afternoon and attempted to calm down the situation.

"This tribalism with/against Indian players on social media needs to slow down! Ambati Raydu and I were messing around after the IPL final and all of a sudden that banter has turned into an avalanche of abuse towards Ambati. PLEASE stop it?" Pietersen tweeted out.

Several previous and current cricketers have suffered backlash from fans on social media this season. Apart from Rayudu, Hardik Pandya has been relentlessly pursued since taking over as captain of MI.