CSK Needs to Release Pathirana and Ashwin in the Next Season, Sanjay Bangar Said

In a thrilling match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the Punjab Kings (PBKS) reached the target of 191 with only two balls remaining to register a crucial 4-wicket victory over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 49 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

It was an evening of imposing batting, tense bowling, and strategic wizardry, dominated by Shreyas Iyer’s masterful innings that secured him the Player of the Match award.

Who Will Win Today’s IPL Match?

This defeat caused the Chennai Super Kings to be the first team to be officially eliminated from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Chennai only managed to win 2 out of the 10 matches they have played. Without some individual performance, CSK failed to perform as a team in the IPL 2025 season.

Are Ashwin and Pathirana to be released from CSK?

The spinner rejoined CSK after 10 years and was bought for a massive Rs 9.75 crore. Ashwin has not had an impressive season so far this year. He has taken only five wickets in seven matches. The veteran has also been very costly, having leaked 223 runs in 144 balls at an average of 44.60 and an economy rate of 9.29.

Pathirana has also been costly this season. He has taken 9 wickets in 8 matches and has conceded 298 runs in 172 balls.

told Star Sports that CSK will have to think twice about retaining “big-ticket players” like Ashwin and Pathirana. He suggested that the squad release them to free their wage bill and instead seek for successors.

“Whether they retain Ashwin or not is going to be another big question because that’s where the money is locked in. Suppose they want to free up their purse a little bit, in the knowledge that they might not want to use Ashwin as much as they have used it in this particular season. So, probably out of those big-ticket players, those are the two players (Ashwin and Pathirana) that they might just think of whether they want to keep them or maybe find a replacement for them,” stated Sanjay Bangar in that conversation.

Ravichandran Ashwin has picked up 185 wickets in 215 innings throughout his IPL career – the fifth highest of wickets in tournament history. Ashwin was just dropped from the playing XI of the tournament. Interestingly, the team of MS Dhoni possesses spinners such as Ravindra Jadeja and Noor Ahmad.