Ravichandran Ashwin burst onto the scene with his street-smart exploits in the shorter form of the game at the IPL, but since his Test debut against West Indies in 2011, Ashwin has made it a habit to pick up wickets, especially in dry and dusty conditions that support turn. He has made a name for himself in the shorter formats of the game, more so in T20 cricket where his accuracy and shrewdness has made him a dependable bowler. He has managed to fill in the boots of Harbhajan Singh and then some, and has become India's premier bowler in the subcontinent.

A consistent season at the domestic level made him stand out and got Ashwin a contract with the BCCI, in addition to leading Tamil Nadu to victory in the domestic one-day trophy in 2009. When Harbhajan opted out of the first two games against South Africa at home in early 2010, Ashwin was called in as his replacement. Alas he did not get his coveted India Test cap. Impressive performances for the Chennai franchise in the subsequent edition of the IPL meant that he was always knocking on the door and an extended chance arrived in June 2010 when India decided to experiment on their tour to Zimbabwe for a tri-series.

After going constantly in and out of the team, the wily off-spinner was picked in the Indian squad for the 2011 World Cup in the Indian subcontinent. However, he played for only two games, including the quarter-final. Ashwin was finally given an extended run in Tests and was adjudged the Man of the Series in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2013, starting his journey as India's go-to bowler on subcontinental pitches with an impressive tally of 29 wickets in the series. In the process he became the third Indian off-spinner to take 25-plus wickets in a series after Harbhajan Singh (32) & Erapalli Prasanna (26). In the first Test match of the home series against West Indies in November 2013, Ashwin got his second Test ton and also put on a record seventh wicket partnership of 280 runs along with Rohit Sharma, going on to get his 100th wicket in his 18th Test - another record. Ashwin had been consistent in the opportunities that he has got and took over as the lead spinner in the Test side after the selectors dropped Harbhajan for the Test series against West Indies in 2011. He formed a successful partnership with left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and later Ravindra Jadeja, especially in Tests in India.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               IPL - Through the years

A rookie from Tamil Nadu, Ravichandran Ashwin, was picked by his home franchise - Chennai Super Kings - in 2009, where he played just two matches. The following season (2010) saw him rise to fame - courtesy his 'sodukku ball' a.k.a. carrom ball. Under MS Dhoni's captaincy, the 'mystery spinner' was summoned to bowl with the new ball and the youngster didn't disappoint his skipper as he finished with 13 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 6.10. Despite heavy competition from Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Super Kings managed to re-buy him for the 2011 season and the offie proved his worth. Ashwin scalped 20 wickets (economy: 6.15, average: 19.40) and he went onto win back-to-back titles for CSK (2010 and 2011). An integral member of the Super Kings set-up, he was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2014 season.

While 2014 saw him lose his form a bit, Ashwin came back strongly in the following season. Although he picked just 10 wickets in 16 games during the 2015 season, his economy rate was 5.84, which is incredible in T20s. Following the 2-year-suspension for CSK, Ashwin was picked by Rising Pune Supergiants at the 2016 IPL Player Draft. After having an ordinary outing in 2016, Ashwin was ruled out of the following season due to sports hernia injury. Ashwin had to go under the hammer in 2018 and Kings XI Punjab bought him for Rs 7.6 crore and named him the captain. The season wasn't a success, both for Ashwin and for Punjab as they finished 7th with Ashwin scalping only 10 wickets. A suspected fallout between captain Ashwin and head-coach Anil Kumble led to Kumble’s departure the following season but the Punjab franchise didn’t see much change in fortune under Mike Hesson either in 2019 as they finished 6th this time.

Ashwin was subsequently traded to the Delhi Capitals for the 2020 season. While he was consistently in the mix at Delhi for the following two seasons, there weren’t any performances of note as he finished with 13 and 7 wickets respectively. For the 2021 season, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for INR 5 crore.