Ravichandran Ashwin has ended his IPL career after 16 seasons. The offspinner said he now wants to test himself in other leagues.
Ravichandran Ashwin logged off the IPL on Tuesday. The 38-year-old posted on X that his time in the league is done, but he’s not done with the game. Not yet.
He had a high-profile homecoming this year when Chennai Super Kings picked him up for INR 9.75 crore. It never turned into the story CSK fans hoped for. Nine games, just seven wickets, and soon whispers that he and the franchise were parting ways.
The numbers though, they’re heavy. 221 matches across five different teams. 187 wickets. Fifth-highest in IPL history. From his early days with MS Dhoni’s CSK to his later spells with Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan, Ashwin’s fingerprints are everywhere.
There were peaks too. The 2010 and 2011 titles with Chennai. His Champions League T20 heroics. That 2011 final where he opened up and knocked Chris Gayle over first ball, a moment CSK fans still carry. And there were quieter stretches, like the captaincy run with Punjab Kings that never really lifted off.
Rajasthan Royals gave him another chapter. Paired with Yuzvendra Chahal, he kept their spin attack sharp before a dip in 2024. By then, his IPL arc felt near its end.
Ashwin’s cricket has always had that restless edge, trying things, tinkering. The IPL door is closed now. But you can tell he isn’t walking away from the game. Not his style.