After announcing his retirement from international cricket in December last year, Ravichandran Ashwin once again shocked the cricketing world by sharing his decision of retiring from the Indian Premier League (IPL) on August 27. Though the 38-year-old did end up closing his doors on the league, he is still open to feature in foreign T20 competitions.
However, there is a possibility that Ashwin won't just be featuring as a player in overseas leagues as according to a report by Cricbuzz, the spinner is looking for a player-cum-coach role. With him already having quite a lot of experience in the shortest format, he is now thinking about broadening his horizons and take up opportunities that arise in foreign leagues.
The report further stated that Ashwin is eyeing to play in leagues like Major League Cricket, The Hundred and ILT20. The all-rounder could have been seen playing in SA20 as well if he had announced his retirement a little earlier, but now the franchises in the league appear to have already finalized the players that they will sign. Additionally, the SA20 auction is just around the corner and will be held on September 9.
Meanwhile, Ashwin announced his retirement from IPL through a social media post. He also expressed his desire of featuring in overseas T20 leagues in the same post. The 38-year-old further reflected on the memories and relationships he had formed with other players in his 16-year long journey in the league.
"Special day and hence a special beginning. They say every ending will have a new start, my time as an IPL cricketer comes to a close today, but my time as an explorer of the game around various leagues begins today," Ashwin wrote on his social media handle.
"Would like to thank all the franchisees for all the wonderful memories and relationships over the years and most importantly the @IPL and the @BCCI for what they have given me until now. Look forward to enjoying and making the most of what’s ahead of me," he added.
Ashwin's sensational IPL career
Ashwin retired from IPL as the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the league with a total of 187 scalps under his name from 221 matches. The spinner played for a total of five franbchises in the league during his career with the Chennai Super Kings being the side he spent the most time with (8 seasons). He was quite successful as a player in the Chennai-based franchise, winning consecutive titles with them in 2010 and 2011.