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Ravichandran Ashwin, the former Indian cricketer, disclosed that his departure from the Indian Premier League (IPL) stemmed from a 'mentally disturbing' experience during his return to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He expressed that he lacked the 'emotional bandwidth' to continue playing in the league. Ashwin, who was a key player for CSK from 2008 to 2015 and returned to the team last year, shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel 'Ash ki Baat'. After retiring from international cricket in early 2025 following a disappointing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he also announced his IPL retirement in August of the same year.

On his channel, Ashwin mentioned, 'I had a disappointing season with CSK, which affected me personally. I felt I could have played more, but I chose to step back because I was emotionally drained while trying to manage everything around me.' He added, 'It was quite painful and mentally taxing. I decided to end my journey where it began. My retirement also relieved CSK from the dilemma of retaining or releasing me, allowing them to gain an additional Rs 10 crores to enhance their squad during the auction.'

Last year, CSK welcomed Ashwin back for Rs 9.75 crores, reuniting him with franchise legends MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. However, the excitement did not translate into success on the field, as Ashwin managed only seven wickets in nine matches, averaging 40.42, with his best figures being 2/41. The team finished the season poorly, securing only four wins out of 14 matches.

Throughout his IPL career, Ashwin played for CSK, Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals, and Rising Pune Supergiant, amassing 187 wickets in 221 matches at an average of 30.22, with a personal best of 4/34. He also scored 833 runs in 98 innings, averaging 13.01, including one half-century.

Ashwin voiced his concerns regarding CSK's bowling tactics, particularly the use of tall pacer Jamie Overton during the death overs. He criticized the decision to have Overton bowl wide yorkers, which he felt were not suited to the bowler's strengths. Overton initially performed well, conceding only 13 runs in his first two overs and taking a wicket, but struggled in the final overs, allowing Tim David to score 30 runs off him, including four sixes.

'He bowled two overs, gave away 12 runs, and took one wicket, but then he was instructed to bowl as if it were a Test match. Tim David couldn't even connect with the ball initially, yet the plan was to have him bowl wide yorkers. This approach makes no sense,' Ashwin remarked. 'You need to consider the strengths of both the batter and the bowler when devising a strategy. If a bowler excels at hard lengths, a yorker should merely be a variation.'

In a recent match, RCB set a daunting target of 250 runs against CSK. Batting first, RCB's Virat Kohli scored 28 runs, while Phil Salt contributed 46. However, it was the explosive performances from Padikkal (50 runs), Patidar (48*), and David (70*) that propelled RCB to their massive total.

During CSK's chase, they struggled early, finding themselves at 30/3. Sarfaraz Khan's quickfire 50 and a partnership between Prashant Veer (43) and Jamie Overton (37) provided some resistance, but CSK ultimately fell short, finishing at 207 runs in 19.4 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the standout bowler, taking 3 wickets for 41 runs, marking his milestone of 200 IPL wickets.