CSK off-spinner R Ashwin said that the thought of playing IPL for three months started taking a toll, prompting him to retire from the league as well. He surprised many by announcing his IPL retirement on Wednesday, August 27.
However, Ashwin faced a poor 2025 IPL season, finishing with only seven wickets in nine outings at an economy of over nine for the first time in his career as well.
While talking about the reason behind his sudden IPL retirement, 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,” he further added.
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However, R Ashwin said that thoughts about playing in foreign leagues crossed his mind, leading up to his retirement from the IPL as well. He has played the IPL in 16 out of the 18 seasons, with 2008 and 2016 being the lone exclusions as well.
“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 again.
“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,” R Ashwin conclded.
