Chennai Super Kings became the first team to be eliminated from the IPL (Indian Premier League) 2025. The side lost their recent clash against Punjab Kings, which saw them having no chance to make it into the playoffs of the tournament now.
It is worth noting that Chennai Super Kings roped in some big names, notably Ravichandran Ashwin, whose services were acquired for Rs. 9.75 crores in the mega auction. However, due to Ashwin’s performances, he has been a sporadic member of the side, and he was left out of CSK’s loss to Punjab Kings recently as well.
Speaking on the same, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh came forward and talked about why Ashwin is being left out of CSK’s squad very frequently and slammed the team management for doing so.
“Chennai didn’t select the team based on conditions. Had Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja played together against Punjab Kings, Chennai Super Kings could have won the match. You didn’t pay INR 10 crore for Ashwin to bench him. I don’t know why he is not playing, but it seems he might have fought with someone,” he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Furthermore, former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar revealed that he feels that CSK might let go of Ashwin after the IPL 2025, that they won't be retaining his services in the upcoming auction.
“Whether they retain Ashwin or not is going to be another big question because that's where the money is locked in. If they want to free up their purse a little bit, in the knowledge that they might not want to use Ashwin as much as they have used in this particular season. So, probably out of those big-ticket players, those are the two players (Ashwin and Pathirana) that they might just think of whether they want to keep them or maybe find a replacement for them,” he said.