Ambati Rayudu, a seasoned middle-order batter who has played for both Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), recently shared his insights into the contrasting work cultures of the two franchises.
Rayudu, who has been a part of both CSK and MI’s title-winning sides, highlighted the significant difference in their approaches to winning. While CSK emphasizes the process and remains relatively unaffected by results, MI places an unwavering focus on victory.
“CSK focuses more on the process. They don’t analyze the results much. Their mood and mood swings are not because of the results,” Rayudu explained. “MI is a bit different. MI mostly wants to win, and their culture is like, everything depends on winning. They have a culture of, ‘win is a must at all cost.’ Winning is non-negotiable.”
Rayudu acknowledged that the pressure to perform at MI is immense, as the franchise is result-oriented. However, he also praised MI for fostering an environment where players improve and become better versions of themselves.
“When I used to play for MI, my game improved a lot when I was in the franchise. If you have not won the match, they do not see an excuse. You also do not get a platform to give an excuse. At the end of the day, you have to perform. MI has an environment where you keep getting better,” Rayudu said.
In contrast, Rayudu described CSK’s environment as more relaxed and focused on the long-term development of players. “CSK has a much better environment. You can play for longer years there. But if you play for more time at MI, your brain will explode,” he joked.
Despite the contrasting cultures, Rayudu emphasized that both CSK and MI are successful franchises that work hard. He also noted that the new captains, Ruturaj Gaikwad for CSK and Hardik Pandya for MI, are bringing their own unique styles of leadership to the teams.
