All posts tagged: Ash ki Baat

‘This is not Dhoni’s CSK’

‘This is not Dhoni’s CSK’

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: May 22, 2026 12:41 PM IST Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes Chennai Super Kings need a major rethink in both approach and squad-building after their IPL 2026 campaign ended with a crushing 89-run defeat to Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Reflecting on CSK’s struggles this season, the 39-year-old said the franchise could no longer depend on the formula that brought them sustained success during the MS Dhoni era, adding that the side now needed greater quality, experience and balance across departments. “Honestly, I will say this openly, CSK has to invest in quality. They have to invest in quality cricketers,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’ “I mean, make a quality team. With experience. Bowling experience. Variety in fast bowlers. Variety in spinners. A team has to be formed in a good way.” Ashwin acknowledged the excitement around young players but stressed that experience remained irreplaceable in a tournament as demanding as the IPL. “Young talent, exuberance of youth, as Ravi (Shastri) bhai says, it excites. But …

‘Not even one bowler who can guarantee four overs’

‘Not even one bowler who can guarantee four overs’

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 3, 2026 01:11 PM IST After Kolkata Knight Riders conceded a second 200-plus score in back-to-back IPL 2026 defeats at the start of their campaign, India spin legend R Ashwin made a scathing assessment of the team’s bowling weaknesses. Opting to bowl first at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, Ajinkya Rahane’s men ended up conceding a whopping 226-run total to SRH. Led by the brutal Powerplay onslaught from Travis Head and Ishan Kishan, none of the KKR bowlers were spared. With Heinrich Klaasen backing up the openers’ attack with a half-century, KKR were left reeling in a tall pursuit, eventually losing by 65 runs. Ashwin observed that KKR’s bowling department is facing major issues with no bowler looking secure and stable to run through a four-over spell. Of the four bowlers who bowled as many overs on Thursday night, veteran Sunil Narine was the most economical even as he conceded nearly 10 runs per over. ALSO READ | Travishek come to the party for Sunrisers, while KKR batters implode in another …

‘Match between India and Pakistan will happen, 100 percent’: Ashwin on boycott of India match in T20 World Cup | Cricket News

‘Match between India and Pakistan will happen, 100 percent’: Ashwin on boycott of India match in T20 World Cup | Cricket News

Published by Webster

3 min readFeb 4, 2026 01:15 PM IST With the Pakistan government taking the decision to not take the field against India in the group stage match of the T20 World Cup in Colombo on February 15 in support of Bangladesh pulling out of World Cup, recent days have seen the International Cricket Council (ICC) warning Pakistan Cricket Board to reconsider the decision. With PCB yet to inform the ICC officially about the decision, the situation remains unclear. Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes the match will happen with the stakes on the match being high and if Pakistan does not play the match against India, there will be implications, including players not coming to play in Pakistan’s domestic T20 league, the Pakistan Super League. “100 percent, the match between India and Pakistan will happen. I feel that it will happen. The next 3-4 days will see these decisions being overturned. And that’s my hunch and I hope I want to see the India-Pakistan encounter. Because there are a lot of business decisions in this. …

‘I don’t want to see Shubman making runs at lesser strike rate’: R Ashwin says Gill’s vice-captaincy must be reviewed only after SA series | Cricket News

‘I don’t want to see Shubman making runs at lesser strike rate’: R Ashwin says Gill’s vice-captaincy must be reviewed only after SA series | Cricket News

Published by Webster

Former India all-rounder R Ashwin expressed concerns over Shubman Gill’s indifferent form and the questions placed over his vice-captaincy tag after the Punjab batter’s lean patch extended to another innings in the ongoing South Africa T20Is. Although Gill chipped in with a fluent start in a 118-run chase in Dharamsala, the 26-year-old progressively lost his rhythm and fell for 28 off as many deliveries. Ashwin said that India would not find it easy to drop the Punjab batter mid-way through the series after being naming him as deputy to captain Suryakumar Yadav who has also been woefully out of runs. The former World Cup winner added that a decision on Gill’s position in the team must only be reviewed after the remaining games in Lucknow and Ahmedabad this series. “I am a little concerned. Shubman is not only the opener but also the vice-captain. How will you remove the vice-captain? It is going to be an incredibly tough decision. If you have to take that decision, inside this series you can’t bring [Sanju] Samson because …

R Ashwin reveals what happened when Dhoni walked in to bat vs Mumbai

R Ashwin reveals what happened when Dhoni walked in to bat vs Mumbai

Published by Webster

Ahead of the Chennai Super Kings’ crunch clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday at the Chepauk, CSK bowler Ravichandran Ashwin revealed the scenes in the dressing room from the previous Indian Premier League 2025 game when Mahendra Singh Dhoni had walked in to bat against the Mumbai Indians with the game on the line. Ashwin was padded up and ready to walk into bat if needed after Dhoni. At that stage CSK had needed just four runs to win when Ravindra Jadeja was dismissed after a run out involving Rachin Ravindra. Dhoni walked out to bat in the 19th over to join Rachin Ravindra, leading to an explosion of noise at the Chepauk. “When MS Dhoni came out to bat in Chennai, there was so much noise and chaos that we forgot the situation of the game only. MS Dhoni has earned the love. It was for the first time I was seeing that reception from the CSK dressing room; I always saw it from the outside,” Ashwin said while speaking on his …

Ashwin on batter’s missed hundred opportunity vs Gujarat Titans

Ashwin on batter’s missed hundred opportunity vs Gujarat Titans

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With Punjab Kings opening their campaign in this year’s IPL with a 11-run win over Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad on Tuesday night, the spotlight was on Kings’ captain playing a knock of x runs off. While Iyer missed his hundred, the 30-year-old earned praise for giving the strike to Shashank Singh and not thinking about his hundred in the game. Singh would score 23 runs off the six balls as Kings set a target of 244 runs for Titans. Kings then won the match by 11 runs and former Indian spinner Ravinchandran Ashwin heaped praise on Iyer’ selfless act. Ashwin also shared how if Punjab Kings would have ended on 233 with Shreyas scoring the hundred and Titans chasing the target, the bowlers would have been blamed. “If Shreyas Iyer scored his hundred and PBKS ended with 233, and GT chased it down with a ball to spare, we would have blamed the bowlers for not defending the target. It is not like that now, 230 is not the new 180 in T20. It is …

Why Javed Miandad, R Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara are impressed with Shubman Gill’s batting | Cricket News

Why Javed Miandad, R Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara are impressed with Shubman Gill’s batting | Cricket News

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The wily old Javed Miandad was impressed. It’s a show from a year ago where Miandad asks upcoming cricketers from Pakistan to look and learn from Shubman Gill’s batting. And his wrists in particular. Miandad, whose street-cred is well established in India-Pakistan battles, gestures the wrist-break of Gill: he gestures how Gill powers the ball and gives it direction by snapping his wrists. On Sunday, another wily customer, the recently-retired R Ashwin, cued up two balls from Shubman Gill to talk about Gill’s hands, feet, and the smart brain. The first ball is when Gill moved down the track to lift Shaheen Afridi’s length delivery up and over the infield to the long-on boundary. Ashwin points to how close Gill’s hands are to his body, and how his feet get ready to move. It’s a shot replayed on YouTube shorts and in highlights packages, but Ashwin is more impressed with what followed. On paper, it’s just a flick for a single, that turns to two due to an overthrow, but it’s interesting to see why …

Champions Trophy | ‘Virat Kohli’s engine room is ODI cricket and it could be his second innings’: R Ashwin on batter’s 51st ODI ton | Cricket News

Champions Trophy | ‘Virat Kohli’s engine room is ODI cricket and it could be his second innings’: R Ashwin on batter’s 51st ODI ton | Cricket News

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With his 51st ODI hundred against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy match at Dubai on Sunday, Virat Kohli hit his first International hundred since the hundred against Australia in the Perth Test match during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Kohli, who had only amassed 190 runs in nine Test innings in Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy, had got out six times to off side deliveries followed by a half-century in three ODI matches against England last month. Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has shared how he did not see those dismissals in red ball cricket as any ‘doubts’ and ODI cricket being Kohli’s engine room. “I never had any doubt about Virat’s quality. When we were playing in Australia, people were criticizing that he was nicking the ball in the slips. People should understand that there was grass on the wicket and it was red ball cricket and he was nicking in Test match cricket. And there was so much talk over that. One gets out in the slips, one gets out clean bowled and …

Champions Trophy | ‘Kuldeep has a miracle in his hands. He showed the world’ : Ashwin showers praise on Yadav | Cricket News

Champions Trophy | ‘Kuldeep has a miracle in his hands. He showed the world’ : Ashwin showers praise on Yadav | Cricket News

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While the talk has been about Virat Kohli’s 51st ODI hundred during India’s six wicket win over Pakistan in the Champions Trophy match at Dubai on Sunday, left-arm wrist Kuldeep Yadav returned back to form in International cricket with a three-wicket haul. Yadav had made a comeback to international cricket after more than three months in January early this year post a sports hernia injury, a soft tissue injury that happens on an athlete’s groin area. With wickets of Slaman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah in the match against Pakistan, the 30-year-old had his best wicket haul in his last four matches since injury and former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has backed the bowler for the comeback. “People should understand that a spinner is making a comeback after an injury. Sometimes in our country, we don’t give so much time to the bowlers. If the batsman fails after a comeback, we tell that he has just come after an injury. If you think it happens with Virat and he plays 2-3 games, …

‘Salman Agha could become poster boy for Pakistan cricket’

‘Salman Agha could become poster boy for Pakistan cricket’

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As hosts Pakistan face New Zealand in their Champions Trophy opener at the National Stadium in Karachi today, the defending champions would hope to emulate their 2017 title-winning campaign. The Mohammad Rizwan-led Pakistan team has included talents like Tayaab Tahir and Salman Agha in the squad and former Indian spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Salman Agha can be the poster boy for Pakistan cricket with a dominating performance in Champions Trophy. Champions Trophy 2025, PAK vs NZ LIVE Cricket Score: Watch Here Agha has so far played in 33 ODIs with one hundred and five half-centuries under his belt and his maiden ODI hundred came last week against South Africa during the tri-nation series. “I am excited about two players. Tayyab Tahir and Salman Ali Agha. What a player Salman Agha is. He has quality and press handling ability. I am seeing a Pakistani player with on field presence for the first time in many years. I really hope he does not go like some of the other players did. He could become the …