Ashwin Reveals the Reason Behind His Exit From KXIP

Despite leading the Preity Zinta-owned franchise for two straight years, Ashwin had to move to DC ahead of the upcoming IPL season

Days after getting traded to Delhi Capitals (DC) for the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed the reason behind his exit from Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Despite leading the Preity Zinta-owned franchise for two straight years, Ashwin had to move to DC ahead of the upcoming season. He opened up on his transfer and said that it wasn’t really something that he asked for. “My stint at Kings XI was fantastic, to say the least. The experience enriched me in every possible way. I was given the role of captaincy, that was the new boundaries I explored. Within my purview, I thought I did a fair job, if not a very good job, but these decisions were not mine entirely,” Ashwin said. “There are other factors, the owners did feel I haven’t delivered which is true because I could not take the team through to the playoffs in both the seasons. You can give excuses why we could not do that, but I am someone who takes it under my chin and admits that ‘yes I couldn’t deliver.’ The trade was more initiated rather my doing,” he said. Ashwin further stated that he is hopeful of making a comeback in the limited-overs set-up, especially for the upcoming World T20 in Australia. “I enjoy playing day in, day out. But I felt somewhere in my career, because of the white ball snub and injuries, I had lost the joy of playing the game, which was very very dangerous for me. I could not watch the game on TV,” Ashwin said. “That was something I did not enjoy. Thankfully I have gotten over it. I took the help of people and I have gotten over it. World T20 is a realistic goal for everybody. Who does not want to represent India at the competition? Yuvraj Singh came back for World T20 in 2014 and then in 2017 Champions Trophy. I am only 33.”