Not so long ago, the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises revealed the list of their retained players ahead of the mega auction for the 2022 edition. Some franchises made obvious choices to keep their star players while others surprised fans with notable omissions. One such omission was made by Delhi Capitals (DC) as they released star Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Capitals retained Rishabh Pant, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel and Prithi Shaw, allowing Ashwin to go into the mega auction alongside many other international stars. There is no doubt that franchises will include some new talents in the big auction while some teams would also focus on bringing their old stars.
In this context, it would be interesting to see if Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will opt for their former spinner Ashwin back again. Speaking about such a possibility, the Tamil Nadu lad opened up on Friday.
In reply to a fan’s query on his YouTube channel, Ashwin acknowledged that CSK remains close to his heart and he would love to rejoin his old team but also mentioned that his return depends on the dynamics of the upcoming auction.
“CSK is a franchise close to my heart, for me, CSK is like a school. That is where I joined Pre KG, LKG, UKG, primary school, then I did my middle school, and then starting high school and completing 10th standard board exams, I moved to a different school. I did my 11th and 12th a couple of, a couple of years, outside. Then I did a couple of years of Junior College. But after completing everything, obviously one has to come home, right? So even I would love to come back home, but it all depends on the auction dynamics,” said Ashwin.
Notably, Ashwin was roped in by CSK for the inaugural season as an uncapped player. During his stay at the franchise until 2015, the Chennai-born bagged 90 wickets in 94 innings. He then joined Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) as CSK was suspended for a couple of years. Thereafter, Ashwin was picked in the auction by Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab), and he led the team in 2018 and 2019 before being traded to Capitals ahead of the 2020 season.
Explaining the dynamics for the 2022 auction, which will feature 10 teams, Ashwin said that he will do full justice to whichever team he joins for the upcoming season.
“But I understand the fact that the auction dynamics is a different ball game. There are 10 teams coming up with 10 different strategies. They will all think differently. We don’t know which team’s core playing XI we will fit into. So let’s see what happens at the auction. But as a professional, wherever I go, the mindset is simple, any franchise is trusting you and spending so much money to avail your services, for them I’d give my entire life and put in all efforts and not let them down,” Ashwin added further.
