R Ashwin reveals importance of 'catching MS Dhoni's eye' to get into CSK side in 2010

Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (R Ashwin) made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut through Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the 2009 edition of the tournament. While the cricketer played only two matches in the season, he became a full-fledged member of the MS Dhoni’s CSK unit the following year. R Ashwin was recently involved in an interview with cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz where he revealed how he impressed his captain MS Dhoni when he first entered the team as a youngster.  

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“MS Dhoni did not know who I was” – R Ashwin

R Ashwin stated that upon first entering the CSK franchise, he had to impress his captain MS Dhoni because the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman had not heard of him before. The off-spinner revealed that he had to catch the attention of MS Dhoni in order to be included into the line-up. R Ashwin said that at the time, he thought his best chance of impressing MS Dhoni was to “catch the eye” of his then captain.

With three IPL titles, CSK is one of the most popular franchises in the history of the tournament. In their back-to-back triumphs (2010 and 2011), R Ashwin was often found to be MS Dhoni’s go-to man with the captain even handing him the ball to bowl the first over of the innings on numerous occasions. The 70-Test veteran remained with the franchise till the 2015 season and also played alongside MS Dhoni in 2016 and 2017 through the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant.

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R Ashwin’s IPL career is also one of the most decorated ones in the franchise’s history. Even though the right-arm bowler has not represented CSK since IPL 2015, he is currently the leading wicket-taker among all CSK bowlers since the inception of the tournament. With 120 wickets spanning from the IPL 2009 to 2015 and the Champions League Twenty20 (2010-2014), he is ahead of other CSK veterans like Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel and Ravindra Jadeja.

IPL 2020: R Ashwin in Delhi Capitals

Prior to the IPL 2018, R Ashwin was inducted into the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) franchise as their captain. However, during the IPL 2020 trading and transfer window, KXIP traded the cricketer to Delhi Capitals. Delhi Capitals acquired the wily veteran for ₹7.6 crore (US$1 million) for the now-postponed IPL 2020 season where he will play alongside the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Ishant Sharma.

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Image credits: IPLT20.COM