In a ground breaking revelation, it has been reported that Ravichandran Ashwin has decided to quit Chennai Super Kings ahead of the IPL 2026.
The news has been reported by Cricbuzz, and confirmed by Hindustan Times, which claims that “the player has informed the team about his decision to part ways with them.”
Along with severing ties with the team, he is also most likely to give up his position as the Director of Operations at the CSK Academy. Ashwin held this position for the past year.
Ashwin to leave CSK
The player had earlier made his intensions clear, regarding how he perceived the future. Following this, a meeting was held in Chennai, which was attended by captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and former captain MS Dhoni.
Once all the parties concerned reached a parley, the news was made public. It now indeed has been confirmed that the player will leave the team ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
With that being said, there has been no reason provided by the team or the player, behind what prompted this decision from his side. However, there are a lot of speculations regarding Sanju Samson joining the team that could have caused an issue.
Ashwin’s second stint with CSK
The legendry spinner re-joined Chennai Super Kings ahead of the IPL 2025. He was picked up in the mega auction for a price of 9.75 crores, but failed to replicate his previous performances.
Featuring in 9 games for the team, he could only manage to pick 7 wickets, that too at an economy of 9.12 runs per over. Which was way below the expectations other players and fans had from him.
Even the player himself was not happy with his performance. He claimed that he could have done better, especially inside the powerplays.
CSK and Samson
With Ashwin’s future uncertain with the team, there is another player who’s future is uncertain, and that’s Sanju Samson of Rajasthan Royals.
Last month there was a lot of buzz around how there were high chances of that player joining CSK. But the RR franchise has turned down any cash deal. They want player in return, otherwise Sanju Samson will not be traded directly to CSK.
While this conundrum continues, the player himself has made it clear to the RR team that he wants to leave. Therefore, it remains to be seen if Rajasthan will be trading him to another team, or let him go to the auction table.
Coming to Chennai Super Kings, they had a torrid outing in the 2025 season. They finished bottom of the table for the first time in 16 seasons. Hence, a shake up is in order, and it will be interesting to see how that happens.
