‘MS Dhoni didn’t know who I was’ – Ravi Ashwin on his initial days with Chennai Super Kings

Ravi Ashwin had to warm the bench for an entire season before he eventually made his debut in the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was picked by the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the three-time champions of the T20 event. Currently one of India’s star Test bowlers with 365 wickets in 71 matches, Ashwin was pretty much a rookie back then.

Going down the memory lane, the tweaker said that he understood the importance of impressing Dhoni, who wasn’t aware of the bowler. Ashwin played his first game against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Cape Town, though he didn’t bowl in the game. From there on, he didn’t look back.

I had the best chance: Ravi Ashwin

“MS Dhoni did not know who Ashwin was. I had to catch the eye of MS Dhoni. So, if I had caught the eyes of MS Dhoni, I had the best chance,” Ashwin was quoted as saying in a chat with Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz.

Ashwin is currently seventh in the list of all-time leading wicket-takers in the IPL. In 139 matches, he has 125 wickets at an economy of 6.79. He played for CSK for seven seasons and was a part of the winning team in 2010 and 2011. He was also the leading wicket-taker and the Player of the Tournament for them in the 2010 Champions League T20.

At the present point in time, the Tamil Nadu cricketer is a part of the Delhi Capitals (DC). He was traded to the Shreyas Iyer-led team after he flattered to deceive for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in 2018 and 2019. When asked about the reason to move to DC, Ashwin admitted that he couldn’t perform to expectations in the Punjab team.

“There are other factors, the owners did feel I haven’t delivered which is true because I could not take the team through to the play-offs in both the seasons. You can give excuses why we could not do that, but I am someone who takes it under my chin and admits that ‘yes I couldn’t deliver.’ The trade was more initiated rather my doing,” he added.