Ravichandran Ashwin

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ravichandran Ashwin

• Ashwin started playing cricket at the age of nine for the YMCA.

• He does not like to smoke.

• Ashwin was born into a Tamil-Brahmin family with a sports background as his father used to play cricket at the club level as a fast bowler.

  

• He was a mischievous kid in his school days. The subject that he used to hate the most was Maths.

• His wife, Prithi studied with him during high school.

• He started playing cricket as an opening batsman, but at the age of 14, he injured his pelvic area that caused a ligament tear in the hip bones, after which he dropped the idea of becoming a batsman.

• Initially, he started as a fast bowler, but his mother felt that it was not suiting him, so she suggested him to do spin bowling, which proved to be the right call.

  

• At the age of 20, Ashwin made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu in 2006 against Haryana in the Ranji trophy; he took six wickets in the match.

• In 2007, Ashwin made his List A debut for Tamil Nadu against Andhra.

• Ashwin made his T20 debut for Tamil Nadu in April 2007 against Andhra in the interstate T20 tournament.

• Ashwin captained the Tamil Nadu team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2008-09.

• Ashwin was signed as a domestic player by Chennai Super Kings in 2008. He made his IPL debut in 2009.

• Ashwin took 13 wickets in IPL 2010 and helped Chennai Super Kings win their first IPL title that season. It also became his breakthrough season as his impressive performances led to his selection for the Indian national team.

• Ashwin became the seventh Indian bowler to take a five-wicket haul on debut when he made his test debut against West Indies in 2011.

  

• Ashwin scored his maiden international century against West Indies in the third match of the test series in 2011. The match ended in a draw and Ashwin was awarded the man of the match award.

• Ashwin was part of the Indian cricket team which won the ICC World Cup in 2011 and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Ashwin was the joint fifth-highest wicket-taker of the 2013 Champions Trophy with eight wickets in five matches at an average of 22.62. He was also included in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy team of the tournament for his performances.

  

• His aspirations to become a genuine spinner skyrocketed when he went to the National Cricket Academy, captained his team and took a 7-wicket haul.

• Ashwin took 11 wickets in six matches at an average of 11.27 in the ICC World Twenty20 2014 tournament, helping India reach the finals. He was also included in the Team of the Tournament.

• Ashwin was selected for the second consecutive time in the Indian cricket team squad to play in the ICC World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand in 2015. He took 13 wickets in 8 matches in India’s run to the semi-finals and was named on the bench in the ‘Team of the tournament’.

• In the 2015-16 season, Ashwin scored 336 runs and took 48 wickets in eight test matches and also took 27 wickets in 19 T20 international matches. His all-round performances from both bat and ball in all the formats eventually led to him winning the ICC Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year awards in 2016.

• He took at least one wicket in his debut match across all formats (T20I, ODI, Test).

• Cricket pundits often consider him as the perfect blend of former Indian spin bowler Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and Erapalli Prasanna.

• His all-time favourite skipper is Sourav Ganguly.

  

• He was the guest contestant on Vijay TV’s ‘Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi’ (Tamil version of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’) which was hosted by Suriya.

• In 2017, the ICC named Ashwin in the Test team of the year for the third consecutive year.

• Ashwin made his County cricket debut in August 2017 with Worcestershire against Gloucestershire; he took three wickets in the match.

• Ashwin recorded his best bowling figures in England in 2018 at Birmingham when he took seven wickets against England in a test match including figures of 4/62 in the first innings.

• He is an avid dog lover and whenever he is in Chennai, he loves to take his dogs for a walk in the night.

  

• He is a movie freak and loves watching every new release at Chennai’s Sathyam Cinema.

• On 25 March 2019, playing for Kings XI Punjab against Rajasthan Royals, Ashwin dismissed Jos Buttler in a run out popularly called ‘Mankading’. Though this is a legally permissible dismissal, it is considered against the spirit of the game, and for the same, Ashwin received heavy criticism from every corner.

  

• During the third test match of the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Ashwin made headlines when he batted against Australia for more than 40 overs in a partnership with Hanuma Vihari in Sydney. He was injured and played through the pain till the end. The partnership proved vital as the match ended in a draw leading to a historic series win for India after they won the final match in Gabba.

  

• After a gap of four years since he played a T20 international match, Ashwin was recalled to the Indian cricket team squad for the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021. He was also included in the squad for the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2022 held in Australia and helped the team reach the semifinals playing all six matches in which he took six wickets.

• In June 2023, he revealed in an interview that he should have never become a bowler as he was a fine batter. He said,
  

  Having been such a fine batter, I should have never become a bowler. This is something, a perception I have constantly tried to fight but there are different yardsticks for bowlers and batters.” ^[2]Sportstar

• Ravichandran Ashwin replaced the injured Axar Patel in the Indian squad that was announced for the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup. ^[3]India Today

  

• On 7 March 2024, Ashwin received a special memento from Rahul Dravid on playing the 100th Test match in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.

  

• In March 2024, in an interview, he revealed that he decided to quit cricket and pursue an MBA to become a marketing professional in 2017. He said that the decision was based on the pressure of playing professional cricket because of which he could not spend time with his family. According to Ashwin, he regained his mental health after taking external assistance. He said,
  

  I decided to quit cricket. I was asking myself what would I do? And I said whatever I do in life, I would try to achieve excellence and be as good as I can be in that profession. I would probably try to do an MBA and probably be in marketing. I gave myself so many options and then thought before I make any decision, I must get crystal-clear clarity. Probably get an outsider’s view into my life. And see who I am, where I am. That’s when I sought some external help and it changed my life for the better.”

• In the same interview, Ashwin revealed that he once kept himself closed in a room and wept after a fight with his father.

• In the 2024 IPL mega auctions, Chennai Super Kings bought Ashwin for Rs. Rs 9.75 crore to play in the IPL 2025 edition.

• He made headlines in January 2025 when he replied to a tweet, believing it to be from Rohit Sharma‘s wife. In the tweet, he inquired about her well-being and that of her newborn son. However, he later deleted the tweet after it was revealed that it was a fake account.

  

•  While Ashwin was still playing international cricket, he started his YouTube channel. He usually conducts podcasts on his channel and discusses various cricket topics with guests. He also runs a series on his channel called “Kutti Stories” which is also very popular among cricket fans.