Why did CSK buy Ashwin? Head coach Stephen Fleming reveals

Ravichandran Ashwin will be back at Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and playing in the yellow jersey after a gap of 10 years, thanks to the franchise bidding aggressively for him at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction. After sustaining a bidding war, the Super Kings managed to secure the Chennai born for INR 9.75 Cr, their second costliest player after Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad, who was paid INR 10 Cr.

Explaining the logic behind going for an ageing Ashwin so aggressively, head coach of the Super Kings, Stephen Fleming, said, "It's a bit of a homecoming for Ashwin, but he's a world-class bowler. It's not so much the price - you look at how someone fits in, and there's an emotional attachment for Ashwin with Chennai, so it's a nice fit. 

"He has still got a very good skillset; his numbers are fantastic. He's obviously towards the latter part of his career, but the experience he brings, he's handy with the bat, and we think we can use him in a number of ways.”

Talking about the Ahmad pick, where they bought him for INR 5 Cr and then doubled the price so that Gujarat Titans could not use the Right to Match (RTM] card, Fleming said that it was more about the role that Noor would play than the money spent on acquiring him. 

"The Noor Ahmad pick was looking more at the middle [overs] to attack. So if we do get turning conditions, then we've got an opportunity to keep taking wickets. We've got [Matheesha] Pathirana at the end, which is the death aspect.

"Your bowling has to be really specific, and you have to take wickets to slow teams down. And if you're just trying to contain, then some of the hitting power of players these days will just take the game away from you. So we've tried to be smart with our options.”

Fleming, a New Zealander himself, was more than delighted to have fellow Kiwis Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway stay at Chennai. While they paid INR 4 Cr to Ravindra, Conway fetched INR 6.25 Cr. 

Fleming was rather surprised that more teams did not fight for Ravindra, who had a stellar series against India last month. He even compared him to Ravindra Jadeja. 

"He could be a player with that skill set, just like Jadeja at the moment, but looking forward, there could be an opportunity. So if his development continues, he's a very silky player, and we're really happy to have him at that price,” he said.

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