'I am amazed by someone like MS Dhoni': Ashwin in awe of ex-CSK captain’s commitment as he explains taxing nature of IPL

After putting the curtains on his storied IPL career earlier this week, Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that he wanted to feature in the tournament next year as well but had to give in after introspecting on the demanding nature of the competition. Ashwin, 38, returned to the franchise he started his IPL career with, Chennai Super Kings, in 2025, but against expectations, he had a somewhat subdued season, playing just 9 games and picking up 7 wickets for the team.

Ashwin, who has successfully pivoted to YouTube while being a cricketer, took to his channel to highlight how taxing it is to play in the Indian Premier League. He stressed that aspects like travel and constantly needing to recover are difficult to navigate after a certain age.

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Ashwin lauds MS Dhoni’s unreal commitment for the IPL

While explaining the same, the spin legend lauded his former captain MS Dhoni for maintaining the zeal to play in the IPL even at the age of 44.

“I thought about playing the IPL next year,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “But three months of IPL started feeling a bit too long. It’s why I am amazed by someone like MS Dhoni. Though he plays only those three months of IPL, as you age, the bandwidth for those three months keeps reducing. It’s not easy with travel, playing the match and the recovery process. As you age, recovery reduces. And this travel-match-recovery cycle becomes an emotional rollercoaster,”.

Ashwin gave priority to his health over signing up for an exhaustive three-month cricketing action. However, the player in him still wants to serve the game and hinted that he will likely return to the field.

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“Someone like me, If I don’t sleep by 11 PM, I can’t sleep well. And when you play the IPL, you’ll sleep only by 2 or 3 AM. So doing that in three months made me think deeply, especially about my health. Then, I thought, ‘Should I immediately go for a coaching role?’ I am ready for coaching but on my own terms. So I thought I should play more as I still have something left. So, I want to play and explore.”