R Ashwin retires from Indian Premier League: Here's why the CSK spinner had to quit IPL to play in overseas leagues

It’s been raining retirements in Indian cricket recently. Three days after Cheteshwar Pujara brought the curtains down on his illustrious international career , spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin made a similar announcement on social media.

Unlike the former Test No 3 though, Ashwin’s decision has more to do with the Indian Premier League than international cricket. The 38-year-old off-spinner, after all, had already retired from the latter in December midway during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Instead, Ashwin brought his 17-year IPL journey to an end with an announcement on social networking platform X on Wednesday morning, signalling his intent to play in overseas leagues going forward.

“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,” wrote Ashwin, who had retired with more than 765 international wickets in December, including 537 in the Test format.

Why Ashwin had to quit IPL to play overseas leagues

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is known for keeping the Indian players on a tight leash as far as their participation in overseas leagues is concerned. And despite the fact that Ashwin had retired from international cricket in December, he couldn’t ply his trade in a T20 league other than the IPL till the time he was either part of a franchise or remained part of the player pool in an auction.

The BCCI rules, after all, state that an Indian cricketer will have to sever ties with them completely if they are to feature in an overseas league. This not only includes international cricket but the IPL as well as all forms of domestic cricket (Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, etc).

Ashwin had played in the 18th edition of the IPL earlier this year, where he wore Chennai Super Kings’ iconic yellow jersey after a decade, with the five-time champions having bought him for Rs 9.75 crore in the mega auction last November.

The spin icon’s Chepauk homecoming, however, was less than impressive, with Ashwin collecting just seven wickets in nine appearances in what was a forgettable season for the Super Kings – who finished at the bottom of the IPL table for the first time in the league’s history.

Besides CSK, Ashwin had also represented Rising Pune Supergiant, Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab), Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals, with the spinner having captained the Punjab franchise for a season.

He retires from the IPL as its fifth-highest wicket-taker with 187 wickets in 221 appearances, which includes a best haul of 4/34.