"It opened my eyes" - R Ashwin picks his favourite IPL memory after announcing retirement from T20 league

Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that watching the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) auction live on television was his favourite memory from the tournament. He said that he was fascinated by watching players get sold in the 2008 auction, adding that it had opened up his eyes.

The two-time IPL winner made his debut for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2009 edition held in South Africa. He called time in his IPL career on Wednesday, August 27, after taking 187 wickets in 221 matches. He said on "Ash ki Baat":

"My favourite memory is when I saw the first IPL auction. When players were being sold. When I saw players being sold on TV, it opened up my eyes. It was fascinating for me. That will be my everlasting memory. The IPL auction has to be the single most exciting thing I have seen in the game."

"Whoever did that, massive, massive respect for both the BCCI and IPL for what they have rolled out. It has to be one of the most incredible products of the game available in the market. Through an auction, it attracted the entire world”.

The 2008 auction saw some of the best Indian and overseas players go under the hammer for the first time. MS Dhoni had emerged as the most expensive Indian player, going to CSK for $1.5 million. The late Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds was the highest-paid overseas player in the inaugural IPL auction for $1.35 million.

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Ravichandran Ashwin reveals how he broke his IPL retirement news to his parents before breaking it to the world

Ravichandran Ashwin said that he had conveyed his retirement thoughts to his parents, 25-30 days before making it official on Wednesday, August 27. The 38-year-old said that his mother questioned his decision, but he was clear about calling it quits.

”The tweet that I put out, my parents have travelled a lot with me in my journey. I only called them to inform them about my IPL retirement after putting out the tweet. In fact, they called and asked me, 'Have you retired from the IPL?'. I had informed them 25-30 days back that I had such thoughts in my mind. Then my father said, 'Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it'. My mother asked me, 'Why? Someone else can take you in the auction'. I said, 'No, I strongly feel about the decision (retirement).' That was it," Ashwin said.

Ashwin had said on his English YouTube channel that he did contemplate playing in IPL 2026. However, he decided not to, as he felt that three months of playing in the league was starting to feel long for him.