IPL playerIndia2016 to 2023
Murugan Ashwin
On scorecards: M Ashwin · Right-hand bat
Murugan Ashwin, a bowler, played seven IPL seasons for five franchises.
The arrival
Murugan Ashwin arrived through the auction: Rising Pune Supergiants paid ₹4.50 cr, against a base price of ₹10 lakh.
That first season brought 10 matches and 7 wickets at 8.46 an over.
The peak
The best season was 2020, for Kings XI Punjab: 10 wickets at 7.46 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 8.14, with best figures of 3 for 21.
Franchise by franchise
2016, Rising Pune Supergiants. Bought at the 2016 auction for ₹4.50 cr. 10 matches and 7 wickets.
2018, Royal Challengers Bangalore. Bought at the 2018 auction for ₹2.20 cr. 2 matches and 3 wickets.
2019 to 2021, Kings XI Punjab. Bought at the 2019 auction for ₹20 lakh. 22 matches and 16 wickets.
2022, Mumbai Indians. Bought at the 2022 auction for ₹1.60 cr. 8 matches and 9 wickets.
2023, Rajasthan Royals. Bought at the 2023 auction for ₹20 lakh. 2 matches.
5 spells with five franchises in all. The longest was with Kings XI Punjab, 2019 to 2021. 2017 is missing from the record: a season without an IPL appearance.
How the wickets came
With the ball, 35 wickets in 873 deliveries, at 7.99 runs an over against a league rate of 8.22 for the same seasons: 0.24 an over cheaper than the typical bowler of the time.
32.5% of the balls Murugan Ashwin bowled were dots, a lower share than 75% of the 150 bowlers with 500 balls or more; a wicket came every 24.9 balls.
The fielding record: 7 catches.
At the auction
Murugan Ashwin went under the hammer eight times, bought six times and left unsold twice. The highest price was ₹4.50 cr, paid by Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016, more than 45 times the base price. The market cooled over time: the last purchase, in 2023, cost ₹20 lakh. Being bought did not always mean playing: no match followed for Delhi Daredevils in 2017.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
The legacy
Murugan Ashwin made 44 IPL appearances, the last for Rajasthan Royals in 2023.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Rising Pune Supergiants | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | – | 0/0 | 7 | 8.46 | 3/36 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 50.0 | 0/0 | 3 | 7.57 | 2/36 | 0 | ||
| 2019 | Kings XI Punjab | 10 | 3 | 1* | 3.0 | 60.0 | 0/0 | 5 | 7.46 | 2/25 | 3 | ||
| 2020 | Kings XI Punjab | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4.0 | 100.0 | 0/0 | 10 | 7.46 | 3/21 | 4 | ||
| 2021 | Punjab Kings | 3 | 15 | 9 | 7.5 | 62.5 | 0/0 | 1 | 8.69 | 1/32 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | Mumbai Indians | 8 | 12 | 6 | 4.0 | 85.7 | 0/0 | 9 | 7.86 | 2/14 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | Rajasthan Royals | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 0/0 | 0 | 12.72 | - | 0 |
Franchise journey
- Rising Pune Supergiants: 2016
- Royal Challengers Bangalore: 2018
- Kings XI Punjab: 2019 to 2021
- Mumbai Indians: 2022
- Rajasthan Royals: 2023
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 54% |
| Balls per four | 25 |
| Balls per six | 50 |
| Dot balls bowled | 32.5% |
| Balls per wicket | 24.9 |
| Catches | 7 |
| Run-outs | 0 |
| Stumpings | 0 |
At the auction
| Auction | Set | Base price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | – | ₹10 lakh | Sold to Rising Pune Supergiants for ₹4.50 cr |
| 2017 | – | ₹10 lakh | Sold to Delhi Daredevils for ₹1 cr |
| 2018 | USP1 | ₹20 lakh | Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹2.20 cr |
| 2019 | – | ₹20 lakh | Sold to Kings XI Punjab for ₹20 lakh |
| 2022 | USP1 | ₹20 lakh | Sold to Mumbai Indians for ₹1.60 cr |
| 2023 | – | ₹20 lakh | Sold to Rajasthan Royals for ₹20 lakh |
| 2025 | USP3 | ₹30 lakh | Unsold |
| 2026 | USP2 | ₹30 lakh | Unsold |
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet