Ravichandran Ashwin Retires from IPL After 17 Years; What's Next for the Ace Spinner?

Ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has called time on IPL career after playing for 17 years. His last season was IPL 2025 with the very team he began his journey with in 2008. Yes, we are talking about CSK. He has hinted that he will play franchise cricket around the world now.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s Calls Time on IPL Career

"They say every ending will have a new start, my time as an IPL cricketer comes to a close today, but my time as an explorer of the game around various leagues begins today," the 38-year-old posted on X.

© X/IPL

Ravichandran Ashwin’s CSK Return

Ashwin returned to CSK after the five-time winners bought him for Rs. 9.75 Crore. However, it was not a season to remember that he took just seven wickets from nine games. As per a Cricbuzz report, Ashwin and CSK were going to part ways soon.

IPL Journey of Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin was with CSK since 2008 but the debut came in the second edition that was played in South Africa in 2009. He played a total of 221 for multiple teams and took 187 wickets. The spinner played a crucial role in CSK winning consecutive titles in 2010 and 2011 with 13 and 20 wickets respectively. In 2010, he was also the player of the series in CSK's successful CLT20 campaign. Ashwin also played for PBKS, whom he led, along with DC and RR.

From 2009 to 2015, Ashwin represented CSK and took 90 wickets. In 2016, when CSK was banned, he was part of RPS with MS Dhoni as his skipper. Injury forced him to miss the 2017 season. PBKS bought him in 2018 for Rs. 7.60 crore and he also was named skipper. In the two seasons he was there he took 25 wickets, PBKS failed to finish in the top four even once.

Ahead of the 2020 edition, Ashwin was traded to DC and he stayed there for two years. In the 2022 mega auction, RR roped him in for Rs. 5 crore. He finished with 12 and 14 scalps in the first two seasons with RR before a dip in 2024. RR released him and CSK took him in. Ashwin has featured in 16 out of 18 seasons of the IPL and finished with the fifth-highest number of wickets.

© X/ICC

Ravichandran Ashwin’s Stats and Legacy

Ashwin retired from international cricket in 2024 during the tour of Australia. In 106 Tests, he took 537 wickets while he had 156 ODI scalps in 116 matches. In T20Is, he played for India 65 times and had 72 victims to his name. Overall, he finished with 765 international wickets, 11th on the overall list.

Ravichandran Ashwin Looking Beyond IPL

It will be interesting to see what Ashwin does next. Will we see him as a franchise cricketer all over the world? He turns 39 next month and that means he’s not going to be playing at the top level for too long. So best to enjoy him while we can, provided he does play in franchises worldwide.