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“Champions League T20 the landmark event of my career,” Ravichandran Ashwin credits the now defunct franchise tournament for his development

Ravichandran Ashwin won two IPL and two Champions League titles with CSK

Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that despite his numerous accomplishments in international cricket, the Champions League T20 trophy that he won with CSK back in 2010 is still the landmark event of his career and the man of the tournament award that he got there in that tournament is still slotted in the first row of his trophy cabinet.

It was Ashwin’s performance in CL T20, 2010 which made the national selectors take notice of him and he rose up the ladders so quickly that within a year’s time, he was in India’s World Cup squad for the ODI World Cup 2011.

Champions League T20 was actually a tournament where franchise teams from different countries used to participate, including 4 teams from the IPL. Ashwin didn’t have it all too easy in that tournament in 2010, as in one of the games he bowled a super over and was smashed for 24 runs by the Australian batsman David Hussey who was representing Victoria Bushrangers.

But, the way Ashwin came back from there and the kind of performance he put on in the final of the tournament against the South African franchise “Warriors”, he caught the eyeballs of a lot of people all around the country and was soon in the frame of national selection.

Ravichandran Ashwin recalled when he went abroad the first time

Ravichandran Ashwin often interacts with his fans through his Youtube channel and in one such interaction recently, he talked about the initial days of his career. IPL 2009 was the first-ever high profile tournament Ashwin played in and recalling that, he said it was the first time ever he travelled to a foreign country as well, as IPL 2009 took place in South Africa due to general elections in India.

Although Ashwin was not a regular in the CSK set-up in that tournament, he got an opportunity to play a couple of games and impressed his captain and management straightaway. CSK made it to the semi-final of IPL 2009, but couldn’t advance any further, however they won the next two IPLs back to back, with Ashwin playing a key role in both of them.

Ravichandran Ashwin is currently in South Africa with India’s test team, but he has also made a comeback to India’s limited-over squad now after a 4-year exile. He was picked in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup and was later retained for the T20I series against New Zealand. The veteran off-spinner has now also been picked for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa.

Abhishek

I write a bit on cricket and I am more interested in technical and tactical side of the game, rather than bravado.
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