Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday August 27. The 38-year-old veteran cricketer made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday morning. Ashwin signs off with two IPL titles (2010 and 2011) alongside being a two-time runner-up.
“Special day and hence a special beginning. 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. Would like to thank all the franchisees for all the wonderful memories and relationships over the years and most importantly the BCCI and IPL for what they have given me until now. Look forward to enjoying and making the most of what’s ahead of me,” the legend said.
After retiring from international cricket in December 2024, Ashwin was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2025 mega auction back in November 2024. He had a lukewarm season for Chennai, who finished 10th.
The off-spinner started his IPL career with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before representing the likes of Rising Pune Supergiant, Delhi Capitals, and Rajasthan Royals. He even captained Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). Ashwin ended his journey with CSK.
Here we dissect Ashwin’s IPL career by the numbers.
5th-highest wicket-taker in IPL; 4th-highest among spinners
Ashwin made 221 appearances in the IPL since making his debut in 2009. He finishes as the current 5th-highest wicket taker. Ashwin owns 187 wickets at an average of 30.22 with one four-fer under his belt. Among spinners, he is the 4th-highest wicket taker.
Top 5 wicket-takers in IPL history
- Yuzvendra Chahal – 221 wickets
- Bhuvnewshwar Kumar – 198 wickets
- Sunil Narine – 192 wickets
- Piyush Chawla – 192 wickets
- R Ashwin – 187 wickets
Ashwin’s performance for IPL teams
Ashwin is CSK’s 3rd-highest wicket-taker after Ravindra Jadeja (143) and Dwayne Bravo (140). The premier spinner played 106 matches for CSK and picked 97 wickets at 25.39.
Ashwin played a lone season for RPS in 2016. He picked 10 wickets at 31.90. His lone four-fer came for RPS.
Across two seasons for PBKS, the spinner took 25 wickets. In IPL 2018, he bagged 15 scalps for PBKS at 26.66.
Across two seasons for DC, Ashwin picked 13 and 7 wickets respectively.
Thereafter, he moved to RR and spent three seasons. He picked 12, 14 and 9 wickets for RR. The 2024 season was abysmal for Ashwin, as he averaged 51.88.
Last season, he managed only 7 wickets from 9 matches for CSK at 40.42.
A solitary fifty in the IPL
Ashwin managed 883 runs with the bat from 98 innings. He struck at 118.15. He hit a solitary IPL fifty. It came for the Royals in IPL 2022. It was his best season with the bat. He scored 191 runs at 27.28.
Ashwin featured in 4 IPL finals
Ashwin featured in 4 IPL finals as mentioned above. He won the trophy with CSK in 2010 and 2011. He was on the losing side with DC and RR respectively in 2020 and 2022.
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