Ravichandran Ashwin opens up on his decision to retire from IPL, says three months of the tournament started feeling a bit too long

Chennai Super Kings’ spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has shed light on his decision to call time on his IPL career. Ashwin admitted that playing for more than two months in the IPL started feeling a bit too long.

The veteran all-rounder said it was becoming difficult for him to do the recovery with growing age amid the hectic IPL scheduling. Ashwin also shared his surprise that CSK’s former captain, MS Dhoni is still playing in the league despite being 44.

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. 

Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “I thought about playing the IPL next year. But three months of IPL started feeling a bit too long. It’s why I am amazed by someone like MS Dhoni. Though he plays only those three months of IPL, as you age, the bandwidth for those three months keeps reducing. It’s not easy with travel, playing the match and the recovery process. As you age, recovery reduces. And this travel-match-recovery cycle becomes an emotional rollercoaster.”

“Someone like me, If I don’t sleep by 11 PM, I can’t sleep well. And when you play the IPL, you’ll sleep only by 2 or 3 AM. So doing that in a three-month span made me think deeply, especially about my health. Then, I thought, ‘Should I immediately go for a coaching role?’ I am ready for coaching but on my own terms. So I thought I should play more as I still have something left. So, I want to play and explore.”

The all-rounder said playing in other leagues around the world crossed his mind and he has already indicated that he would be exploring overseas opportunities.

“My mind has always been about travelling in paths that are less traveled. But, I don’t do it just to not go in some direction. Yet, I won’t deny that there weren’t thoughts of playing around the world elsewhere. I had a county stint for the first time around 2016 for Worcestershire, followed by Nottingham, Surrey before the Yorkshire stint, which COVID prevented from beginning,” said Ashwin.

“Barring my cricket for India and other Indian-cricket related tournaments, I used to enjoy playing Under-10 and 12 in my childhood. I could rekindle such joy when I played county cricket in England. So I realized, given that playing for India or CSK were beyond what I expected, it sucked you into it. But, I want to really enjoy cricket during the final stages of my career. Cricket has given me everything in life because of which I am where I am today.”

Ashwin ends his career as the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the IPL. The off-spinner won two IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings in 2011 and 2012.