Ravichandran Ashwin, a former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player and currently India’s leading Test bowler, may be set to rejoin he five-time IPL champions for the 2025 season, RevSportz reported.
Speculation about Ashwin’s return to CSK began in June when he was appointed as the head of franchise’s High-Performance Centre.
CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan commented at that time, “Ashwin is one of the greats of India and Tamil Nadu, and his presence will greatly benefit our high-performance centre and academies.”
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R Ashwin’s potential return to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) largely depends on whether his current IPL team, Rajasthan Royals, is willing to let him go for IPL 2025 Auction.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has yet to announce retention rules for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction. In the 2024 IPL auction, franchises were allowed to retain a maximum of four players ahead of a mega auction.
If the same retention rule is followed for 2025 auction, for the Royals, their top retention priorities are likely to be wicketkeeper-batter and captain Sanju Samson, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, and Jos Buttler.
If Ashwin enters IPL 2025 auction, CSK is anticipated to pursue him, given his history with the franchise.
Reports suggest that Mohammed Shami, the star pacer from Gujarat Titans, is also on CSK’s radar. The seasoned bowler is in the recovery phase after an injury he sustained during last year’s ODI World Cup in India, where he finished as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets from 7 matches.
Chennai Super Kings had previously bid for Mohammed Shami in 2019 but lost to Punjab Kings. However, similar to Ashwin’s situation, CSK can only pursue Shami if Gujarat Titans (GT) chooses to release him for IPL 2025 Auction, which appears unlikely given his importance to their team.