"Shouldn't say this but..."- Ravichandran Ashwin reveals how IPL franchises ignored his suggestion

subhradeep-choudhury — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 11:53:42 GMT

Ravichandran Ashwin reveals how IPL franchises ignored his suggestion.

The former Indian spin all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin, has dropped a bombshell ahead of the mini auction of the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he informed that a few decision-makers of the IPL franchise ignored his suggestion of going for the aggressive Australia batter, Tim David, during the las year’s mega auction of the league.

Tim David, who has scored 83 and 50 during the ongoing home T20I series against South Africa, nailed 187 runs for the title-winning side, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, in nine innings at an average of 62.33 and a strike rate of 185.14 with the best score of an unbeaten 50 runs. This was a strange decision from the Mumbai Indians, who left him even after scoring 241 runs at 158.55 in 2024.

“I shouldn't say this, but I told the decision makers of a few IPL teams to pick him before the last auction. They all said, 'No, his game has dropped off drastically.” Ravichandran Ashwin expressed the advice during the new episode on his YouTube channel.

Ravichandran Ashwin leaks story of IPL franchises ignoring his suggestion

One of the crazy parts for the Australian batter was his impressive skills of making an impact, coming late in the batting order and still contributing with the vital runs on several occasions. For Australia, he holds a key role of showing his power-hitting skills late in the batting order. Ashwin also sheds light on how the tall batters will earn more success in the shortest format.

“I believe the future of T20 cricket is going to be having tall batters with long levers and a strong build. They are going to rule the roost if there are no changes brought to the wide line.” The Tamil Nadu spin all-rounder explained.

David has overall smashed 1466 runs in 52 innings of the T20Is at an average of 37.58 and a strike rate of nearly 170, with the help of eight half-centuries and a century. The unbeaten 102-run knock came last month against the West Indies in the Caribbean. He could push himself for the ODIs, where he has featured in four innings at an average of 11.25 for 44 runs at the best score of 35.