IPL | Ashwin reveals inside talks regarding contract renewals and trading in franchise cricket

‌Indian legendary off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has opened up on his talks with the IPL franchises regarding retention, contract renewals, and trade rumors in the tournament. The former Indian player revealed some of the inside talks in a recent interview with Sanju Samson on his YouTube channel.

Although Ashwin is mostly regarded for his performances in Test Cricket, he has also delivered some iconic performances in white-ball cricket. In fact, the 38-year-old spin-bowling all-rounder rose to prominence during the third IPL season in 2010, where he was the joint second-highest wicket-taker for the Chennai Super Kings with 13 wickets in 12 games, and followed it up with the player of the series award in the second edition of Champions League T20. The Chennai-born has represented five franchises in the tournament and is the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the league with 187 wickets from the 221 games he has featured in. There was a lot of hype for him in the last season, as he returned to the yellow brigade after 10 years, after being bought for 9.75 CR in the auction by the franchise. However, the comeback turned out to be a disaster for the Chennai-born off-spinner, who had one of the most underwhelming seasons of his IPL career with only seven wickets from the nine games at an average of 40.42 and a high economy of 9.12. These performances also led fans and experts to question his chances of being retained in the team next year.

“I played three years for RR. After my 1st year, I got an email from the CEO saying this is your performance, this is our expectation, and we're renewing your contract. It's one plus one plus one - the contract renewal. After every season, it's the responsibility of the franchise to communicate to the player if they're retaining or releasing him,” Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel.

During the interview, Ashwin also gave his insights on Samson, with recent rumors suggesting that the Rajasthan Royals skipper might be exiting the franchise next year.

“With regard to news about me or Sanju - obviously, a player has the right to express interest [if he wishes to be retained or not]. Every player seeks clarity. As things stand, it's not in my hands. I've just asked for clarity. The situation we're in, all the news floating around, none of it is coming from the players. Even with Sanju's news, it's rumours or it's coming from the franchise's side. I don't know who is making this news,” Ashwin concluded.