'He will make a fascinating coach, but...': Ex-CSK star shares his take on Ravichandran Ashwin's IPL future

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Robin Uthappa believes that Ravichandran Ashwin would make a 'fascinating' coach in the IPL now that he has retired from the tournament. However, Uthappa added that the role of mentor would suit the spinner more. This comes just a few days after Ashwin had shockingly called time on his IPL career. The 38-year-old, who featured for CSK in IPL 2025, was rumoured to leave the franchise ahead of the next season. However, he ended up retiring from the league altogether.

Ashwin had announced his retirement from IPL through a social media post and had expressed his desire to play in overseas T20 leagues in the coming future. The spinner retired as the fifth-highest wicket-taker in IPL with a total of 187 scalps under his name from 221 matches. He will definitely be one of the most high-profile names to play in a league outside the IPL if any team picks him at the auction.

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“I think he will make a fascinating coach. But I think his life is going to be way more enterprising than being stuck in a coach’s job. He’ll be a mentor of sorts. That will be a great role for him. He could be a head coach in the IPL. There could be some takers for him," Uthappa said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Ashwin to soon feature in a global T20 league?

Meanwhile, it doesn't look like that Ashwin will be going into coaching or mentoring anytime soon as he is expected to be seen in action in overseas T20 leagues soon. Though the 38-year-old didn't namedrop any T20 league, he had recently revealed that he is already in talks with organisers and is likely to enter the auctions soon.

“Yes, I am in talks with the organisers. Hopefully, I will have a buyer if I register for the auction," Ashwin was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

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On the other hand, Ashwin had a stellar 16-year long journey in the IPL whwre he played for a total of five different franchises. He spent the most time with CSK (8 seasons) and achieved a lot of success with the team as well. The spinner was a part of the CSK squad that won consecutive IPL title in 2010 and 2011. He is nothing short of a legend of the T20 tournament.