“You didn’t pay 10 crore for Ashwin to bench him”

Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh slammed the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) management for benching veteran Ravichandran Ashwin in their IPL 2025 game against Punjab Kings (PBKS). Chennai faced another defeat as PBKS beat them by four wickets at Chepauk on Wednesday, April 30.

Notably, CSK acquired the services of Ashwin for a huge sum of ₹9.75 crores during the mega auction before the start of the season. However, the all-rounder has not been utilized as much. He has played only seven matches this season and has picked up five wickets.

Ashwin was left out of the XI in the game against Punjab, and the decision did not sit well with Harbhajan, who shared critical comments.

“Chennai didn’t select the team based on conditions. Had Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja played together against Punjab Kings, Chennai Super Kings could have won the match. You didn’t pay INR 10 crore for Ashwin to bench him. I don’t know why he is not playing, but it seems he might have fought with someone,” he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

While Ashwin’s outings have not been great, Harbhajan added that others are also playing despite ordinary performances.

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar feels that CSK might release Ashwin after the season to free up some purse as they are not utilising the spinner in all their games.

“Whether they retain Ashwin or not is going to be another big question because that’s where the money is locked in. If they want to free up their purse a little bit, in the knowledge that they might not want to use Ashwin as much as they have used in this particular season. So, probably out of those big-ticket players, those are the two players (Ashwin and Pathirana) that they might just think of whether they want to keep them or maybe find a replacement for them,” he said.

It will be interesting to see if Chennai let go of the veteran just after one season, having paid a hefty price for him at the auctions.

CSK becomes first team to be eliminated from IPL 2025 playoffs race

Meanwhile, CSK became the first team to be eliminated from the IPL 2025 playoffs race after their defeat against PBKS. Just like Ashwin has not had a great season, Chennai have also not performed well as a unit this year.

They lost five games in a row after their opening win over the Mumbai Indians (MI). While they broke the streak with a win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), they racked up three consecutive losses next.

With just four points and two wins from ten games, they languish at the very bottom of the table and are officially out of contention to make it to the top four. CSK have four games left and will look to play for pride. They next face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, May 3.