WATCH: Ravichandran Ashwin hilariously stops panelist from taking MS Dhoni’s name after latest controversy

Veteran Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin’s return to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) hasn’t been a happy homecoming. The 38-year-old has picked up five wickets from six games before being benched for the previous game against Lucknow. One of the biggest talking points was Ashwin’s YouTube channel, which created controversy for some of the comments made by a panellist. 

Ashwin was joined by two other panellists as they discussed the current state of affairs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. One of the panellists was heard saying, “I'm so happy that you won the match. Ashwin, the only thing is that you've led the team a lot. The team that you've led has won the TNPL. What I feel is that leadership is very, very important. That leader is someone like Sanju, someone like Shreyas Iyer, someone like Thala Dhoni”

Watch the video here:

It's really sad to see Ashwin like this.
pic.twitter.com/sEf9dJ0j7o

— Hari (@Harii33) April 18, 2025

It was at this point that Ashwin reminded his fellow panellist not to speak about CSK. The panellist in question replied, “No, you shouldn't be the one talking. I can talk. I'm an audience member”. To which Ashwin said, “I've never spoken about my team in RR as well”. MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings are set to take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday and look to win their third game of the season. 

What is Ashwin’s YouTube controversy all about? 

R. Ashwin has been a regular on YouTube, giving his views on various aspects of the game since his retirement from international cricket late last year. During one of the shows, one panellist questioned Noor Ahmad’s purchase after the 20-year-old picked just a single wicket against Delhi Capitals at home. Delhi Capitals had won the game by 25 runs to register their first win in Chepauk for 15 years. 

Soon, the controversy became bigger when CSK coach Stephen Fleming was asked about the comments made on Noor Ahmad. To which Fleming said, “I have no idea. I didn't even know he had a channel, so I don't know that stuff. That's irrelevant.". It was after this that Ashwin decided to stop speaking about CSK and its matches. 

The veteran cricketer put out a long statement about the incident. One of the key points in the statement was about stopping coverage of CSK matches “Given the nature of the discussions on this forum over the last week, we want to be mindful of how things can be interpreted and have chosen to step away from covering CSK games, both previews and reviews, for the rest of this season”