'MS Dhoni Had Not Bowled Him': Former CSK Cricketer Makes Stunning Revelation About Ravichandran Ashwin's Early IPL Days; Video

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cricketer Anirudhha Srikkanth has made a stunning revelation about MS Dhoni's captaincy as Ravichandran Ashwin calls it quits from IPL cricket. Srikkanth stated that Dhoni did not give Ashwin bowling on his IPL debut and benched him 13 matches in a row moving forward.

The said match was between the Super Kings and Mumbai Indians that took place in Cape Town as Dhoni bowled Manpreet Gony, Thilan Thushara, Andrew Flintoff, Jacob Oram and Joginder Sharma. With the Super Kings left to chase down 166, they eventually lost by 19 runs.

Speaking in a video uploaded by Star Sports, Srikkanth remarked:

"R Ashwin's journey was not easy in CSK. He sat out his entire first season. In the second season, he was given an opportunity in the first match but MS Dhoni had not bowled him. He then sat on the bench for 13 matches, 13 matches in a row. Just think about it, he only fielded in that one opportunity and did not bowl and CSK benched him for 13 matches. In the 14th game, he took a four-wicket haul. The next year, he featured only in two out of seven games and we were literally in a no-win situation. We had only won two out of seven matches in 2010."

He added:

"From then, Ashwin became the opening bowler. He was given the new ball and his story was re-written. He struggled and played for CSK, crossed plenty of hardships and became a superhero. Then he went out of CSK, then captained other teams. He returned to CSK after 10 years and deserved to do it for his cricketing brilliance."

Ravichandran Ashwin played a pivotal role in CSK's title victories in IPL 2010 and 2011

Although Ashwin didn't have the best time in IPL 2025 with the Super Kings, his performances were outstanding for the franchise in 2010 and 2011. The off-spinner picked up 13 wickets at 22.54 in 2010 and 20 scalps at 19.40 apiece in the 2011 edition as CSK became the first franchise to defend their IPL title successfully.

Overall, in 221 IPL games, Ashwin finished with 187 wickets at 30.22. The veteran was also part of India's Champions Trophy winning squad in 2013 and 50-over World Cup-winning squad in 2011. Nevertheless, it was Ashwin's Test career that stood out the most, taking 537 wickets in 106 matches alongside six centuries.