Follow UsThe retirements keep coming thick and fast, and the days keep getting sadder. Three days ago, it was Cheteshwar Pujara who bid adieu to his Indian career, and today it’s Ravichandran Ashwin who has decided to call it quits from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In a way, this Ashwin retirement is not surprising. In IPL 2025, Ashwin, already 38 at that point, endured his worst ever IPL season, taking just 7 wickets while going at 9 an over, warming the bench for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for nearly half the season.
He’s turning 39 in 20 days’ time, so adding everything up, this is a call that makes perfect sense, especially considering he was likely going to be released, having been purchased for 9.75 cr last season.
Still, much like India without Virat Kohli in Tests, it will take some time getting used to not seeing Ashwin and his energy in the IPL. He bids goodbye having entertained us for 17 seasons, in which period he’s given the fans hundreds of fond memories to cherish.
When you think of Ashwin, you automatically get reminded of the word ‘clutch’. He was someone who always wanted to be in *the moments*. He thrived when handed responsibility, and he was truly a man for the big occasions.
The numbers support this theory as well: no spinner has taken more wickets in IPL playoffs than he has.
Most wickets taken by a spinner in IPL Playoffs
21 - Ravichandran Ashwin
19 - Ravindra Jadeja
17 - Harbhajan Singh
13 - Yuzvendra Chahal
We’d all agree that his wicket of Chris Gayle in the IPL 2011 Final will go down as his most memorable wicket ever. What’s not spoken about enough, however, is how, that night in Chennai, he bowled one of the greatest final spells in the tournament’s history. Again, clutch as it can get.
Best bowling figures in an IPL Final
4/16 - Anil Kumble vs DCH in 2009
3/16 - Ravichandran Ashwin vs RCB in 2011
3/17 - Hardik Pandya vs RR in 2022
3/19 - Andre Russell vs SRH in 2024
The IPL 2011 Final, though, was far from the only game in which Ashwin dominated Gayle.
Overall, he dismissed Gayle 5 times in the IPL, and had an average of 10.6 against him, which is outrageous considering the big Jamaican is the single-most destructive batter in the competition’s history.
You can safely say that Ashwin’s domination of Gayle itself is a testament to his greatness.
Lowest average for Chris Gayle against a bowler in the IPL (min 3 dismissals)
7.0 - Shane Watson
10.6 - Ravichandran Ashwin
10.7 - Jofra Archer
Another testament to Ashwin’s greatness is longevity and durability. He’s bowled 60.5 more overs than any other bowler in the competition’s history. That’s an entire season worth of deliveries.
Most balls bowled in IPL history
4,710 - Ravichandran Ashwin
4,345 - Sunil Narine
4,222 - Bhuvneshwar Kumar
4,056 - Ravindra Jadeja
And despite having bowled this outrageous volume of overs, he has the second-best economy rate for any Indian bowler in the tournament’s history.
Best economy rate for an Indian bowler in IPL history (min 1000 balls)
7.07 - Harbhajan Singh
7.20 - Ravichandran Ashwin
7.24 - Jasprit Bumrah
7.34 - Axar Patel
In a way, it’s poetic that Ashwin has ended his career at the same place he started it - Chennai. The farewell might not have gone according to plan, but that does not take anything away from the fact that Ashwin is still one of CSK’s greatest ever servants.
He bids goodbye as the franchise’s third-highest wicket-taker, having delivered them two IPL titles and as many Champions League T20 titles.
CSK Players to win multiple IPL & CLT20 titles
Ravichandran Ashwin
MS Dhoni
Suresh Raina
Speaking of the CLT20, no bowler took more wickets for a single team in the CLT20 than Ashwin did for CSK.
Most wickets taken for a single team in CLT20
30 - Ravichandran Ashwin for CSK
25 - Lasith Malinga for MI
23 - Ravi Rampaul for T & T
21 - Sunil Narine for T & T
And of course, in the IPL, Ashwin was the King of Chepauk. 52 of his 187 wickets came at Chepauk, with him taking 35 more wickets there than he did at any other venue.
But more than the wickets, it was the stranglehold Ashwin had over batters at Chepauk, especially during his peak, that made CSK such a force to be reckoned with.
His E.R of 6.42 at Chepauk is the best for any bowler at any venue in the IPL.
Best economy rate for a bowler at a venue in the IPL (min 100 overs bowled)
6.42 - Ravichandran Ashwin at Chepauk
6.53 - Sunil Narine at Eden Gardens
7.00 - Lasith Malinga at Wankhede
7.02 - Ravindra Jadeja at Chepauk
Lastly, it would be a disservice to Ashwin’s greatness as a bowler if we don’t speak about his new-ball skills. At a time when spin, especially finger spin, was considered cannon fodder, Ashwin walked in and changed the landscape of the IPL by strangling batters with a brand new ball.
Ashwin bids goodbye to the IPL having bowled 208.4 overs in the powerplay. That’s a whopping 55 more overs than any other bowler in the tournament’s history.
Most overs bowled in the powerplay by a spinner in IPL history
208.4 - Ravichandran Ashwin
153.0 - Sunil Narine
128.5 - Harbhajan Singh
100.0 - Axar Patel
He didn’t just bowl, though. Ashwin won matches for his side with the new ball. Case in point the IPL 2011 final, where he pretty much ended the match in one strike with the wicket of Gayle.
Ashwin retires as the only spinner in IPL history to have taken 50+ powerplay wickets. And that looks like a record that might be very, very hard to break.
Most wickets taken in the powerplay by a spinner in the IPL
50 - Ravichandran Ashwin
30 - Harbhajan Singh
27 - Sunil Narine
21 - Piyush Chawla
Other unique IPL records held by Ashwin
> Ashwin has dismissed more left-handers (69) than any other bowler in the IPL
> Ashwin is one of two spinners to bowl a maiden in an IPL final (2010 final vs MI)
> Ashwin in IPL 2022 (vs LSG) became the first batter in IPL history to ‘retire out’
> Ashwin’s run-out of Jos Buttler in IPL 2019 became the first registered ‘Mankad’ (run-out at non-striker’s end) in T20 history. To this date, it remains the only mankad in IPL history.