5 players you may not know played in R Ashwin's debut IPL match ft. Andrew Flintoff

Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from IPL on Wednesday, August 27. The move came amid question marks over his place in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squad ahead of IPL 2026. The 38-year-old was purchased at the IPL 2025 auction for ₹9.75 crore. However, he had an underwhelming season, claiming seven wickets in nine matches.

Ashwin announced his decision to retire from IPL with a post on his official social media handle. He is currently the fifth-leading wicket-taker in the Indian T20 league. The Tamil Nadu legend played 221 matches between 2009 and 2025, claiming 187 wickets at an average of 30.22 and an economy rate of 7.20.

The former India off-spinner made his IPL debut for CSK against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Cape Town in the opening match of the 2009 season. He did not have a lot to do in his debut match as he did not bowl a single over and did not get a chance to bat as well.

In the wake of his retirement, we look at five players who were part of Ashwin's IPL debut match, which MI won by 19 runs.

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#1 Joginder Sharma

Joginder Sharma is famous for bowling the last over in the nerve-wracking 2007 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan in Johannesburg. He was part of CSK's playing XI in Ashwin's debut IPL match in 2009.

Joginder bowled his full quota of four overs and registered figures of 1-25. The medium pacer got the big scalp of Dwayne Bravo (5) as the West Indies batter mistimed a pull off a slower ball. With the bat, Joginder scored an unbeaten 16 off 15 balls, slamming one six.

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#2 Andrew Flintoff

Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff in CSK colors (Image Credits: Getty Images)

Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, renowned for his Ashes 2005 heroics, also featured in Ashwin's debut IPL match. The former England star was Ashwin's teammate in the game.

Flintoff proved expensive with the ball in the IPL 2009 match against MI in Cape Town. He bowled his full quota of four overs, but ended up conceding 44 runs. The right-arm pacer got the wicket of Zaheer Khan (2). Even that was a lucky scalp as the MI tailender hit full toss straight to wide long-off. With the bat, Flintoff was dismissed for 24 off 23, chipping a simple return catch to Harbhajan Singh.

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#3 Abhishek Nayar

Former India assistant coach and current KKR assistant coach, Abhishek Nayar was among the players who featured in Ashwin's debut IPL match in 2009. The former all-rounder represented the Mumbai franchise in the contest.

Abhishek made a significant impact with the bat in the match against CSK. Coming into bat at No. 6, the left-hander clobbered 35 in just 14 balls. His blazing knock featured two fours and three sixes. While Sachin Tendulkar was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 59 off 49 balls, it would be fair to say that Abhishek's blitzkrieg made a massive difference in the end result.

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#4 Jacob Oram

Former New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram, who scored five Test hundreds, was also part of Ashwin's debut IPL match in 2009. The left-handed batter represented the Chennai franchise in the game played in Cape Town.

Oram had a decent outing with the ball, registering figures of 1-30 from his four overs. The right-arm pacer ended Nayar's carnage, having hit caught at long-off with a smart slower ball. With the willow, Oram was out for eight off six balls, top-edging one from Sanath Jayasuriya.

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#5 Jean-Paul Duminy

Former South African all-rounder Jean-Paul Duminy was also part of Ashwin's debut IPL match in 2009. Duminy represented MI in the high-octane clash against Chennai in Cape Town.

The former Proteas left-hander batted at No. 4, but was dismissed cheaply. He managed only nine off seven balls, miscuing a pull off CSK pacer Manpreet Gony. The fast bowler showed good reflexes to take a sharp return catch on second attempt. Duminy was not needed to bowl as the main bowlers did the job.