India spin legend R Ashwin opened up on his future plans after announcing his retirement from the IPL earlier this week, while also lauding MS Dhoni’s commitment to the tournament at the age of 44.
Ashwin revealed that he had contemplated about playing in the IPL next season too, but the strenuous recovery process with an ageing body prompted him to call it quits. Lauding Dhoni in this regard, Ashwin said that he was astonished by his former India and CSK captain’s performance despite only featuring in competitive cricket for three months a year since 2020.
“I thought about playing the IPL next year. But three months of IPL started feeling a bit too long. It’s why I am amazed by someone like MS Dhoni. Though he plays only those three months of IPL, as you age, the bandwidth for those three months keeps reducing. It’s not easy with travel, playing the match and the recovery process. As you age, recovery reduces. And this travel-match-recovery cycle becomes an emotional rollercoaster,” Ashwin explained on his YouTube channel.
“Someone like me, If I don’t sleep by 11 PM, I can’t sleep well. And when you play the IPL, you’ll sleep only by 2 or 3 AM. So doing that in three months made me think deeply, especially about my health. Then, I thought, ‘Should I immediately go for a coaching role?’ I am ready for coaching but on my own terms. So I thought I should play more as I still have something left. So, I want to play and explore.”
Ashwin on foreign franchise leagues
Reports have floated since Ashwin put the curtains on his storied IPL career that the Tamil Nadu off-spinner could ply his trade in foreign T20 franchise leagues.
“My mind has always been about travelling in paths that are less travelled. But, I don’t do it just to not go in some direction. Yet, I won’t deny that there weren’t thoughts of playing around the world elsewhere. I had a county stint for the first time around 2016 for Worcestershire, followed by Nottingham, Surrey before the Yorkshire stint, which COVID prevented from beginning,” said Ashwin.
“Barring my cricket for India and other Indian-cricket related tournaments, I used to enjoy playing Under-10 and 12 in my childhood. I could rekindle such joy when I played county cricket in England. So I realized, given that playing for India or CSK were beyond what I expected, it sucked you into it. But, I want to really enjoy cricket during the final stages of my career. Cricket has given me everything in life because of which I am where I am today,” remarked Ashwin.
