Ashwin's top 10 performances in IPL/CL T20

1. 3/16 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (IPL, Chennai, 2011)

This is Ashwin’s best performance till date, which helped the CSK on their road to winning the IPL 2011. With a massive target of 205 set by Chennai who batted first, their bowlers were in no mood to allow the Challengers to even get close. It was nothing new to see Dhoni give Ashwin the new ball of the 2^nd inning, and sure enough, he responded- removing Gayle in the very first over, when he edged the ball and Dhoni did the rest behind the stumps. Gayle’s was the most prized wicket, because he can make a mockery of a big score once he gets going, and is then difficult to stop. You get him early, you are safe. That’s exactly what Ashwin did. He came back in his next over and clean bold Mayank Agarwal to reduce the score to 16-2 in the third over, after which other bowlers chipped in and RCB could never make it.

This performance is his best because of the enormity of the occasion and the fact that he removed the biggest roadblock for Chennai, which is nothing new. He does have a habit of claiming the best of the lot that the batting line-up has to offer. This time around, he set the stage by sending back the openers to the pavilion early in the innings, on which the other bowlers came along and did the needful. Chennai won the game by 58 runs.