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Former Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been linked with different overseas franchise leagues after his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL), was an absentee in the player auction list of SA20 2026.
The former cricketer recently opened up on his plans, saying that he could feature in two to three leagues in a year and will also be open to taking up the coaching role for a franchise.
Earlier, there were speculations that Ashwin may enter the SA20 2025 auction, considering that players retired from the Indian cricket team can be eligible to feature in the overseas tournaments.
However, his name was missing from the list of SA20 players` auction list.
Initially, there were speculations about BCCI`s earlier one-year-long “cooling-off” requirement still being in place. The policy was proposed in 2023, and Ambati Rayudu had to withdraw from the Major League Cricket (MLC) after retiring from the IPL. Various reports suggest that the policy was withdrawn after players expressed their dissatisfaction.
According to Wisden, Ravichandran Ashwin`s absence is not linked to any restrictions, but could be from his interest in participating in the ILT20 auction pool. South Africa`s tournament will be in action around the same time as the ILT20.
While South Africa`s T20 tournament begins in December and runs for a month, ILT20 will kick off on January 11 next year. With half of the tournament overlapping, Ashwin opted to compete in ILT20.
Last year, Ashwin announced his retirement from Test cricket in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The veteran all-rounder sent shockwaves through the cricketing fraternity by announcing his retirement from international cricket following the draw in the third Test at Brisbane.
After bidding adieu to international formats, Ashwin returned to the Chennai Super Kings and saw his side finish last for the first time in the history of the tournament. He enjoyed a mediocre run with seven wickets from nine appearances and had his last dance at Chepauk.
The Tamil Nadu-born cricketer played 220 IPL matches and registered 187 wickets with an average of 30.22. His best bowling figures in the tournament are four wickets for 34 runs. With an average of 13.02, he has also garnered 833 runs with the willow, including a half-century.
(With ANI Inputs)
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