Ravichandran Ashwin aka R. Ashwin is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Rajasthan franchise in the Indian Premier League. R. Ashwin was born on Sep 17, 1986; and as of 2024, he is 38 years old. R. Ashwin is a bowler from Chennai and bowls off-spin. He made his IPL debut in 2009.R. Ashwin has played 197 matches to date in his IPL career and he took 171 wickets, with an average of 28.67, conceding nearly 7.01 runs per over with a best individual figure of 4/34. In the IPL Auction 2024, the Rajasthan franchise acquired the services of R. Ashwin for Rs 5.00 Cr.
Ravichandran Ashwin Biography
| Full name | Ravichandran Ashwin |
| Nick Name | R Ashwin, Ash |
| Date of Birth/DOB/ age | Sep 17, 1986 (37 years) |
| Birth Place | Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Virgo |
| Profession | Cricketer (Spin Bowler) |
| Country | India |
| Cricket Role | Bowling Allrounder |
| Father name | Ravichandran (Worked in Southern Railways, Former club level cricketer) |
| Mother name | Chitra |
| Married | Married |
| Spouse or Girlfriend | Narayanan Prithi (m.2011 – present) |
| Children | Daughters– Akhira (born in 2015), Aadhya (born in 2016) |
| Education Qualification | B.Tech in Information Technology (IT) |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Current Residence | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Batting Style | Right hand Bat |
| Bowling Style | Right arm Offbreak |
| Domestic Cricket debut | |
| International Debut | ODI– 5 June 2010 against Sri Lanka at Harare Test– 6 November 2011 against West Indies at Delhi T20– 12 June 2010 against Zimbabwe at Harare |
| Teams | India, Board Presidents XI, Chennai Super Kings, Tamil Nadu, Indians, Rising Pune Supergiant, Dindigul Dragons, Worcestershire, Punjab Kings, India A, Rest of India, Nottinghamshire, Delhi Capitals, Yorkshire, Surrey, Rajasthan Royals |
Ravichandran Ashwin Physical Statistics
| Height | in centimeters– 188 cm in meters– 1.88 m in feet inches– 6’ 2” |
| Weight | in kilograms– 75 kg in pounds– 165 lbs |
| Body Measurements (approx.) | |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Hair Color | Black |
Ravichandran Ashwin Profile
– Offspinner R Ashwin has played for five IPL teams since his debut season in 2009, and his most recent franchise is Rajasthan Royals (RR), whom he has been playing for since 2022.
– With 171 wickets before the start of IPL 2024, Ashwin is among the top-five wicket-takers in IPL history.
– Ashwin began his IPL career at Chennai Super Kings (CSK), whom he represented from 2008 to 2015. In the 2011 IPL final between CSK and RCB, MS Dhoni gave Ashwin the new ball and he took the key wicket of Chris Gayle in the first over. Ashwin’s 20 wickets in 2011 is his highest tally in an IPL season to date.
– After CSK were banned for two years following corruption charges, Ashwin played IPL 2016 for Rising Pune Supergiant and missed 2017 because of injury, before moving to Kings XI Punjab (KXIP, now Punjab Kings).
– Ashwin was captain of KXIP from 2018, and in 2019 his mankading (run-out of the non-striker backing-up) of RR batter Jos Buttler became a subject of heated debate.
– Ahead of IPL 2020, Ashwin was traded to Delhi Capitals, where he spent two seasons before moving to RR in 2022. At Royals, he was used up the order as a pinch-hitter and became the first batter to retire out tactically in an IPL game.
R Ashwin took the tricks and skills he learned playing tennis-ball cricket on the streets of Chennai, particularly the soduku ball, a finger-flicked legbreak, to Test cricket, where he became perhaps the leading offspinner of the first quarter of the 21st century.
All through his career Ashwin has been a cricket nerd with a deep appreciation of the nuances of the game and an acute knowledge of his craft. And it was that sharp brain, along with the carrom ball, an equally good arm ball, and masterly control over his offbreaks that made him a quintessential limited-overs spinner early in his career. It was in Test cricket, though, that he became a force after he brought the full scope of his talents to bear on it.
His success was desperately needed by India in the time after Anil Kumble retired and Harbhajan Singh was on the wane. Ashwin took nine wickets in his maiden Test, in which he was Player of the Match. In his first 16 Tests he collected nine five-fors, and he went on to be the fastest to 300 wickets and the second fastest to 400, behind only Muthiah Muralidaran.
Among the highlights of Ashwin’s Test career: 30 five-fors and counting, 90-odd wickets apiece against both Australia and England, and over 50 wickets a year four times. He reached his zenith in the 2016-17 home season, when he took 27 wickets in a three-Test series against New Zealand, 28 in five matches against England, six in a game against Bangladesh, and 21 against Australia in four Tests.
Ashwin was picked by Chennai Super Kings in the IPL in 2009, and was one of the rare players who came into the public’s reckoning through the IPL and proved himself good enough to have great success in Test cricket. He spent six seasons at CSK, winning the title twice, bowling at the top and the death, and coming on when wickets were required. He was the Man of the Series in the 2010 Champions League in South Africa.
He was part of the winning squad in the 2011 World Cup, but got few chances in that tournament ahead of Harbhajan. In the 2015 tournament, he made up with 13 wickets from eight games in India’s run to the semi-final. In T20Is his finest hour was the World Cup in 2014, when he took 4 for 11 against Australia, and 11 wickets in all in the tournament, where India lost in the final.
An opener with the bat before he took up offspin, Ashwin has been a more than handy lower-order batter, correct, possessed of shots, and with five Test hundreds to his name.
IPL – Through the years
A rookie from Tamil Nadu, Ravichandran Ashwin, was picked by his home franchise – Chennai Super Kings – in 2009, where he played just two matches. The following season (2010) saw him rise to fame – courtesy his ‘sodukku ball’ a.k.a. carrom ball. Under MS Dhoni’s captaincy, the ‘mystery spinner’ was summoned to bowl with the new ball and the youngster didn’t disappoint his skipper as he finished with 13 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 6.10. Despite heavy competition from Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Super Kings managed to re-buy him for the 2011 season and the offie proved his worth. Ashwin scalped 20 wickets (economy: 6.15, average: 19.40) and he went onto win back-to-back titles for CSK (2010 and 2011). An integral member of the Super Kings set-up, he was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2014 season.
While 2014 saw him lose his form a bit, Ashwin came back strongly in the following season. Although he picked just 10 wickets in 16 games during the 2015 season, his economy rate was 5.84, which is incredible in T20s. Following the 2-year-suspension for CSK, Ashwin was picked by Rising Pune Supergiants at the 2016 IPL Player Draft. After having an ordinary outing in 2016, Ashwin was ruled out of the following season due to sports hernia injury. Ashwin had to go under the hammer in 2018 and Kings XI Punjab bought him for Rs 7.6 crore and named him the captain. The season wasn’t a success, both for Ashwin and for Punjab as they finished 7th with Ashwin scalping only 10 wickets. A suspected fallout between captain Ashwin and head-coach Anil Kumble led to Kumble’s departure the following season but the Punjab franchise didn’t see much change in fortune under Mike Hesson either in 2019 as they finished 6th this time.
Ashwin was subsequently traded to the Delhi Capitals for the 2020 season. While he was consistently in the mix at Delhi for the following two seasons, there weren’t any performances of note as he finished with 13 and 7 wickets respectively. For the 2021 season, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for INR 5 crore.
Ravichandran Ashwin Career Stats
Bowling
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w | 10w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 100 | 189 | 26166 | 12255 | 516 | 7/59 | 13/140 | 23.75 | 2.81 | 50.7 | 25 | 36 | 8 |
| ODIs | 116 | 114 | 6303 | 5180 | 156 | 4/25 | 4/25 | 33.20 | 4.93 | 40.4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T20Is | 65 | 65 | 1452 | 1672 | 72 | 4/8 | 4/8 | 23.22 | 6.90 | 20.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| FC | 156 | 281 | 40702 | 18810 | 758 | 7/59 | 13/140 | 24.81 | 2.77 | 53.6 | 33 | 55 | 12 |
| List A | 176 | 174 | 9514 | 7364 | 236 | 4/25 | 4/25 | 31.20 | 4.64 | 40.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T20s | 309 | 306 | 6684 | 7793 | 301 | 4/8 | 4/8 | 25.89 | 6.99 | 22.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Batting & Fielding
| FORMAT | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct | St |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 100 | 141 | 15 | 3309 | 124 | 26.26 | 6144 | 53.85 | 5 | 14 | 381 | 21 | 33 | 0 |
| ODIs | 116 | 63 | 20 | 707 | 65 | 16.44 | 813 | 86.96 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 7 | 31 | 0 |
| T20Is | 65 | 19 | 12 | 184 | 31* | 26.28 | 160 | 114.99 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
| FC | 156 | 218 | 32 | 5221 | 124 | 28.06 | 9610 | 54.32 | 7 | 25 | 643 | 27 | 58 | 0 |
| List A | 176 | 103 | 27 | 1346 | 79 | 17.71 | 1740 | 77.35 | 0 | 4 | 104 | 13 | 50 | 0 |
| T20s | 309 | 126 | 51 | 1114 | 50 | 14.85 | 927 | 120.17 | 0 | 1 | 95 | 34 | 70 | 0 |
Ravichandran Ashwin IPL Auction Price History
Year | Price | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 7.60 Cr | Punjab |
| 2019 | 7.60 Cr | Punjab |
| 2020 | 7.60 Cr | Delhi |
| 2021 | 7.60 Cr | Delhi |
| 2022 | 5.00 Cr | Rajasthan |
| 2023 | 5.00 Cr | Rajasthan |
| 2024 | 5.00 Cr | Rajasthan |
Ravichandran Ashwin’s Social Media Accounts
| Ashwin (@rashwin99) | |
| Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) | |
| Ashwin Ravi | |
| Wikipedia | Ravichandran Ashwin |
| Youtube | Ashwin |
Some Lesser-Known Facts About Ravichandran Ashwin
- Does Ravichandran Ashwin smoke?: No
- 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.
- The subject that he used to hate the most was Maths.
- His wife, Prithi studied with him in during high schooling.
- He was a mischievous kid in his school days.
- 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’s not suiting him, so she suggested him to do spin bowling, which proved to be the right call.
- 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.
- He took atleast one wicket in his debut match across all formats (T20I, ODI, Test).
- He was bestowed with the Arjuna Award by the Government of India Arjuna award — India’s highest sporting honour — in 2014.
- 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’) that was hosted by Suriya.
- 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.
- His favorite superhero is ‘Batman.’
- 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.
- 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.” - Ravichandran Ashwin replaced the injured Axar Patel in the Indian squad that was announced for the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup.
- 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.
