I put my heart and soul into what I could for Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin was captain of Kings XI Punjab in last two seasons
Ravichandran Ashwin was captain of Kings XI Punjab in last two seasons

Ravichandran Ashwin is all set to join his fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise when he steps on to the field with the Delhi Capitals team in the upcoming edition.

The off-spinner started his career with the Chennai Super Kings back in 2009, and also represented the Rising Pune Supergiants and the Kings XI Punjab in the seasons that followed.

Ravichandran Ashwin led Kings XI Punjab in 2018 and 2019

Over the course of these last 11 years, Ravichandran Ashwin also had the opportunity to lead the Kings XI Punjab in the last couple of seasons.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda’s Indranil Basu, Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that he puts his ‘heart and soul’ into leading the Kings XI Punjab franchise.

“I put my heart and soul into what I could for Kings XI. Sometimes things are not meant to be. The game is constantly led by batsman, maybe because bowlers do a lot of work and not able to take 360-degree view of the game – especially when it comes to Test format. That’s one of the reasons why batsman leads the side,” Ravichandran Ashwin told Sportskeeda during an interview.
“But I think that bowler who knows how to set his fields, how he gets his plans right and he can be a good captain. One person I would have loved to watch leading a side was Shane Warne. He had a very sharp cricketing brain, showcased that for Rajasthan Royals in the first IPL,” the Tamil Nadu off-spinner added.

Ravichandran Ashwin has turned out in 139 IPL games in his career and has managed to pick up 125 wickets at an average of 26.48 and a very impressive economy rate of 6.79.

The Tamil Nadu off-spinner admits that he will not miss leading a side in the IPL.

“One thing I realized was that I became richer as an individual after leading for two seasons at Kings XI Punjab, it is a proper business show where you got to deliver. I couldn’t do that because I failed to take the team to the playoffs for two seasons.
“We showed promise but I have left something behind in Kings XI about how things can be done. If you ask me if I miss it (the captaincy)? May be not, my leadership to team will be there wherever I am,” Ravichandran Ashwin, who picked up 25 wickets in 28 games in the last two seasons, said.

However, Ravichandran Ashwin still considers international cricket the real test as compared to the IPL.

“International cricket is a different kettle of fish. It’s a wrong comparison to make between IPL and international cricket. We don’t play as much T20 for your country as you do for your franchise. IPL makes for exciting viewing and it is 100% here to stay and one for the future,” the 33-year-old tweaker said.

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Edited by Shashwat Kumar