He represented five franchises in the IPL over a period of 16 years.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL), after playing the tournament for 16 seasons. He was a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025, but could not add much value. After his separation from India’s coveted league, Ashwin expressed his intentions to try his luck for participating in other franchise leagues around the globe.
Over a span of the 16 years in the IPL, Ashwin was successful in adding tremendous value to each franchise that he represented. He was also named the skipper of the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), but did not sustain the responsibility for a long time. In 221 matches overall, he was able to scalp 187 wickets at an economy of 7.20. The 38-year-old also holds a four-wicket haul to his name.
Ashwin’s best season in terms of wickets was back in 2011, when he helped the Super Kings with 20 wickets in 16 games. Moreover, his impact was far greater than just the wickets he was able to grab. He bowled with an economy of just 6.15 in that season, his second-best economy in the IPL, behind 5.84 in 2015. The way Ashwin reads the game speaks volumes about him as a leader.
The Indian off-spinner was easily one of the players with an excellent cricketing IQ. His methods to thread an argument and arrive at a conclusion make him a clear thinker. More often than not, he is not afraid to voice his opinions about the game. This has been made pretty evident through his YouTube channel, which is in the news in recent times. However, Ashwin attended an event in which he spoke about the tags, associating him as an ‘overthinker’ and ‘overachiever.’
Ashwin stated that each player has a different way of looking at the game. He also stated his proactive attitude in making things right, a lot before they are broken. Along with his spin-bowling artistry, Ravichandran Ashwin was also known as a brilliant strategist, with multiple players seeking him for advise. However, when asked about his retirement from the IPL, the off-spinner was very clear in his mind with respect to what he wanted to achieve in his career.
“When you first try to make it big, the world will constantly oppose it, saying ‘he’s an overthinker, overambitious and too big to fit in the glove’. I’ve heard many such about myself. However, if I am not ambitious about my own life, who will be?”, Ashwin narrated.
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After his decision to step away from India’s coveted tournament, Ashwin was very clear that he would not opt for a coaching role. The Indian off-spinner felt that the hectic schedules of the tournament would not be on the same page. On the other hand, Ashwin gave an indication towards playing in various other franchise leagues. Considering his skill, he has a good chance of landing a contract with any of the franchises in the leagues.
Having said that, Ashwin was not very happy about the way his captaincy was handled in the IPL. The Indian spinner felt that he was far better for the role than he was portrayed to be. Due to his straightforward attitude, Ashwin was a regular feature in the headlines. One of the most impactful phase of his IPL career was when he mankaded Jos Buttler to dismiss him.
Ashwin said that some people thought that he would not be the right candidate for the captaincy role. He thought of this as unfair. Given his abilities as a leader, he could have been given an opportunity, or a longer rope.
“It’s not like I change my action and tomorrow if I am leading a side, I would go to Jadeja and tell him that he should change his action. I’m not that dumb. In a way, people just assumed that that’s how it could be. They just thought he would not fit the bill as a leader and that’s quite an unfair assessment”, Ashwin said.
