‘Didn’t have bandwidth to play’: R Ashwin reveals key reason behind IPL retirement

Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin broke his silence on his IPL retirement, an announcement which came out of nowhere, but the 38-year-old said that it was a decision taken after considering all the factors. Ashwin mentioned that he was in two minds whether to play the IPL next year as well, but couldn’t get his mind around putting himself through the drill of travel, play, recover, train and repeat for three months and hence, admitted that he had huge respect for MS Dhoni, who is still going strong at 43 in the cash-rich league.

“I was thinking if I can play IPL next year. Three months of IPL is a little too much for me. It’s draining. This is one of the reasons why I’m awe-struck by seeing someone like MS Dhoni. As you grow older, the bandwidth to play IPL becomes lesser,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, while saying that he wanted to play and spend the remainder of his career on his own terms.

Ashwin further mentioned that he still wanted to play but was restricted to India playing just the IPL, which he didn’t want to do and the next move would have been coaching, but as he continued to reiterate, his playing days aren’t over as yet and he wants to enjoy whatever is left for the next year or two.

The reports have linked Ashwin to playing in the MLC and the Hundred next year and one of SA20 or ILT20. The 38-year-old did acknowledge that he has registered for one of those tournaments, but didn’t disclose the details. 

Ashwin, who has taken 317 wickets in 333 matches in his T20 career, would be keen to add a few more to that number while also experiencing the vibe and atmosphere of playing leagues in the USA, England and South Africa or Australia. Ashwin finished his IPL career with 187 wickets while bowling the most number of balls in the tournament – 4,710.