Ravichandran Ashwin led Kings XI Punjab for a couple of IPL seasons without much success. And there have been reports that the Preity Zinta co-owned franchise is ready to trade him off.
Earlier this week, several media reports claimed that KXIP is looking to offload the veteran spinner and hand over the captaincy duties to KL Rahul. And the latest development suggests Delhi Capitals (DC) are on the verge of signing on Ashwin.
“The deal with Ashwin should be through. The Capitals are very close to signing him. There are a few formalities that need to be taken care of,” a source was quoted as saying by Times of India.
Ashwin was roped in by KXIP in 2018 for a whopping Rs 7.6 crores after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) decided not to retain the off-spinner. He captained the Punjab outfit in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the tournament with the team failing to make it to the playoffs on both occasions. KXIP finished sixth on the points table last year.
We will be happy to have R Ashwin at Delhi Capitals, says Sourav Ganguly
Former India captain and Delhi Capitals mentor Sourav Ganguly, who was in the national capital for a promotional event, responded to the media reports and said that their franchise would be happy to have Ashwin in their ranks for the upcoming IPL provided Kings XI Punjab releases him.
“We would be more than happy to have Ashwin if KXIP is ready to release him,” said Ganguly.
Ashwin is unlikely to be handed over the captaincy at Delhi Capitals with Shreya Iyer making significant progress as a leader for the franchise. It will be interesting to see what role is the spinner assigned if the deal goes through successfully.
Ashwin has played 139 matches in the IPL with 125 scalps under his belt at an average of 26.48 and an economy of 6.79. He has played 28 IPL games for KXIP, taking 25 wickets and scoring 146 runs which at best could be termed modest.
