Recently retired Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin blossomed under MS Dhoni’s leadership in the early years of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise from 2008 to 2015. The 38-year-old will reunite with the cricket legend during IPL 2025. He was purchased by his original franchise at the mega auction for an impressive ₹9.75 crore.
Ashwin announced an unexpected retirement from international cricket on Wednesday, December 18, calling time on an illustrious career, which saw him pick 765 wickets in 287 matches across the three formats at an average of 25.80. Apart from playing under Dhoni for CSK, Ashwin also flourished under the seasoned keeper-batter’s leadership in international cricket.
In an interview to ESPNcricinfo back in 2021, Ashwin shared some rather interesting insights on Dhoni‘s leadership style. He had said:
The 38-year-old also credited the former CSK captain for Suresh Raina’s brilliant performances in the IPL at his peak. According to Ashwin, Dhoni gave the aggressive southpaw complete freedom to go after the bowling, which allowed Raina to flourish into match-winner in the T20 league.
Raina ended his IPL career with 205 matches, scoring 5,528 runs at an average of 32.51 and a strike rate of 136.73, with one hundred and 39 fifties to his credit.
Ashwin has so far featured in 212 IPL games and has claimed 180 wickets at an average of 29.82 and an economy rate of 7.12, with a best of 4-34. Apart from CSK, he has also represented, Rajasthan Royals (RR), Punjab Kings (PBKS), Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) and Delhi Capitals (DC).
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