'Will be nice to come back where I started' - Ravichandran Ashwin expresses desire to play for CSK

With only a few more days to go ahead of the IPL mega auction on the 12th and 13th of February, veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin expressed his desire to play with the team where it all started, Chennai Super Kings.

In a candid chat with former IPL auctioneer Richard Madley, Ashwin, who hails from Chennai, said that it would be nice to join his first-ever franchise in the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings. The off-spinner, however, isn’t very confident about the possible prospect of him playing for CSK this season because of the retention of Moeen Ali.

“But yeah, I am 35 now, it will be nice to come back to where I started but they already have an off-spinner with them in Moeen Ali. So I don’t know how they gonna go about it, so let’s wait and watch,” he said.

I have got no clue about where I might be ending up: R Ashwin

Ashwin burst into the cricketing scene during his stint with CSK under MS Dhoni’s leadership and started his IPL journey in 2009 with CSK. He was with the franchise before they were suspended for two seasons because of match-fixing issues. The off-spinner was the go-to man for his captain Dhoni to break the threatening partnerships.

In the 2018 IPL auction, he was purchased by Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) for INR 7.6 crore. He led the Punjab outfit for two seasons without much success before being traded to Delhi Capitals ahead of IPL 2019 auction. The 35-year-old  has also represented now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant and Delhi Capitals in the marquee event.

Talking about which team he might end up with, he said: “Actually to be very honest, I have got no clue about where I might be ending up. The reason being it’s early up in the auction, some teams have got money, some teams have already retained a lot of players and I just feel it’s going to be a real topsy-turvy sort of a curve,” he added.

In the 167 IPL matches he has played so far, the 35-year-old has scalped 145 wickets at an average of 27.80. With just 5 shy of 150 wickets in IPL, Ashwin will be looking to achieve the milestone in the upcoming season.