It was a homecoming for ace India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, as he was sold to his native city franchise Chennai Super Kings for INR 9.75 crore at the Indian Premier League 2025 mega auction in Jeddah on Sunday (November 24, 2024). (Live Auction Updates | More Cricket News)
Ashwin was previously with Rajasthan Royals and has represented CSK for seven straight seasons, starting from the inaugural edition in 2009. Overall, he has played 212 matches in the cash-rich league and picked up 180 wickets at an economy rate of 7.12 and average of 29.82. He has also scored 800 runs at an average of 13.33 and strike rate of 118.51.
Ashwin will join New Zealand players Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway, who have also been bought by CSK at the mega auction, apart from the five retained players Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana and MS Dhoni.
A total of 577 players are in the auction pool to be bid for over the course of Sunday and Monday, with 84 cricketers up for grabs across 12 sets on the opening day. But not all 577 will at first be part of the action, as many will go through the accelerated auction process. The full list of players up for bidding includes 366 Indian and 208 overseas players. The 10 franchises have 204 slots to fill, including 70 reserved for international players.
The IPL 2025 mega auction is being televised on the Star Sports Network TV channels in India. It is being streamed live on JioCinema app and website in the country.
