Ravichandran Ashwin makes shocking revelation about Mumbai Indians trading strategies

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction is just less than a month away. The auction is scheduled to take place in Dubai on December 19 and this will be the first time that the auction is held outside India. Ahead of the auction all the teams have retained and released their players according to their strategies, ahead of the mini-auction. Hardik Pandya was the main attraction as a star all-rounder who was traded back to Mumbai Indians (MI) for an all-cash deal. 

Now veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has opened up about Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) who are the two most successful teams in IPL history and their strategies on player releases and retention. He made a shocking revelation about MI. Ashwin said that the Blues approached the star batter for a trade when he was the captain of the Punja Kings (PBKS) in the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

The off-spinner was part of the Indian team that lost the final at the ODI World Cup 2023 against Australia. He was there with CSK till 2015 and won two IPL in that tenure. Then he was released by the franchise and went to PBKS and then in 2022 he was bought by Rajasthan Royals (RR). 

Trading so many players or releasing so many players is not a well-known practice: Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin said, "Trading so many players or releasing so many players is not a well-known practice so far in the IPL. Because if you look at these IPL teams and talk to them, especially with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, there has been a trend. They have never given players, they have only taken players. And they have five titles each. That's a proper platform that they have built their franchise on."

"When I was Punjab captain, Mumbai Indians showed heavy interest in trading David Miller. They were willing to give as much money as possible, but I wanted a player trade-off as that is what the team would need, which they never came close to agreeing to."