Texas Super Kings rope in former CSK player to replace Ambati Rayudu

Texas Super Kings got a setback after former India international Ambati Rayudu decided to opt out of the inaugural MLC 2023 season.

Ambati Rayudu was originally included in the Texas Super Kings squad, but after BCCI's proposal of a one-year cooling period for retired players, the just-retired IPL 2023 winner withdrew citing personal reasons.

And now Texas Super Kings (TSK) have replaced the India batter with former South Africa spinner Imran Tahir.

Tahir, incidentally, has played for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. The veteran leg-spinner played 27 matches for MS Dhoni's team and picked up 35 wickets. He was also part of CSK's IPL-winning teams in 2018 and 2021.

TSK announced his arrival with a special social media video and welcomed the Proteas spinner at his new home.

"Imran Tahir in yellow, again!" the captain wrote as the video read "A veteran, legend, super king, spin sensation - Imran Tahir."

The 44-year-old has experience of playing in various franchise leagues over the years. Tahir has played in the Big Bash League, PSL among various leagues and has 293 international wickets for South Africa across all formats.

TSK are one of the six MLC 2023 franchises and they will kickstart their campaign in the opener against Los Angeles Knight Riders.