Former South African captain AB de Villiers showered praise on Ravichandran Ashwin after the off-spinner announced his retirement from the IPL. AB said he has massive respect for Ashwin as the Tamil Nadu spinner was always a big student of the game.

During the IPL 2025 mega auction, CSK had brought Ashwin for INR 9.75 crore, as the off-spinner returned to the franchise after nine years. However, the veteran spinner didn’t have a happy homecoming, taking only seven wickets in nine matches at a high economy rate of 9.12.

Overall, Ashwin scalped 187 wickets in 221 IPL matches at an average of 30.23 and an impressive economy rate of 7.20. Ashwin also scored 833 runs in the lucrative tournament. 

“Stellar career. It has got to be said, what a wonderful player. What a scientist of the game. A doctor, professor of the game. He always took it to the limits of the rule book. Generally got it right, even though he was frowned upon a little bit. I have a lot of respect for guys who study the game, and he was one of such cricketers,” De Villiers said during a 360 Live session on X.

“Incredible skill. A huge player and icon in India. He won so many games for Team India and CSK over the years. He played for other teams but never felt settled at those teams. In my opinion, he should have always stayed at CSK. Obviously, it was not up to him, as a lot of things go into that retention, all kinds of team selection. But I will always remember him as a yellow jersey guy,” he added.

The former RCB batter also lauded Ashwin’s batting and said he was underrated with the bat.

“Very underrated with the bat in hand. It is not spoken enough about how he showed a lot of character with the bat in hand. Generally, with Team India in trouble, he would have sort of come through,” said de Villiers.

Ashwin has revealed he would be exploring opportunities to play in overseas T20 leagues.