Ravichandran Ashwin rose to fame with his stellar performances for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL. He was with the team from the inaugural season and flourished with MS Dhoni. Such was the impact of him that he quickly became India’s leading bowler in all three formats and became one of India’s best Test bowlers.
Ashwin has always had fun at his MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, even when he played for Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings and now Rajasthan Royals (RR).
He recently gave a glimpse of his ability and match-winning prowess on Chennai’s spin-friendly surface. In RR’s last match against Chennai Super Kings, Ashwin once again stood out with excellent bowling from him. He finished with figures of 2/25 runs in four overs.
We take a look at R Ashwin’s best performances in Chennai in the IPL over the years:
#3 3 for 16 vs. KKR, 2010
On a tricky track in Chennai, KKR captain Sourav Ganguly opted to bat first but things went downhill pretty quickly for them. Ashwin was brought into attack early in the game and made an immediate impression.
He tricked Chris Gayle as the West Indian danced around the floor only to be defeated by the spin and bounce. MS Dhoni did the rest behind the stumps. He kept up the pressure and went on to pick the wickets of Brendon McCullum and David Hussey. None of the KKR batsmen could read Ashwin’s variations and they could only score 139 runs.
In response, CSK cruised to victory with nine wickets to spare thanks mainly to Suresh Raina and his counter-attacking strike of 78 in 39 deliveries.
#2 3 of 16 vs. RCB, 2011
During the 2011 IPL Final, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set a daunting target of 206 runs against a strong Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batting line-up, led by Chris Gayle who had scored 608 runs in the tournament.
Ashwin opened the bowling with a short toss that drifted away from Gayle, forcing him to play inside the line. With a change of pace in the third delivery, Ashwin induced an outside edge of Gayle’s bat, ruling him out early. The wicket proved to be crucial as RCB’s batting line-up fell apart and they eventually lost the match by 58 runs.
Ashwin then disposed of Mayank Agarwal and Daniel Vettori and ended RCB’s hope in the final as CSK clinched the title by winning the final with a wide margin of 58 runs.
#1 3 for 23 vs. Delhi Daredevils, 2012
Chennai Super Kings faced Delhi Daredevils in the second qualifier in IPL 2012. Murali Vijay led Chennai’s charge with a pounding century. His innings of 113 from 58 balls propelled CSK to a mammoth total of 222 from 5.
In response, Delhi never got going and when Ashwin decided to weave a web around Delhi’s batsmen, the result was a foregone conclusion. Ashwin represented Andre Russell, Mahela Jayawardene and Umesh Yadav to finish with three wickets for 23 runs. CSK beat Delhi by 86 runs to advance further in the IPL playoffs.