R Ashwin’s YouTube channel to step away' from covering CSK games; here’s why

Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin will no longer be covering Chennai Super Kings (CSK) matches on his YouTube channel during the current IPL season.

The decision was taken in light of the controversy involving Prasanna Agoram, a former data analyst for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) who was invited as a guest on his show.

The controversy occurred as Agoram criticised CSK’s decision to pick Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad, despite the 5-time IPL winning team having Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on their team. This led to severe backlash on social media, prompting Ashwin to take down the video from his YouTube channel with a subscriber count of 1.6 million.

Reacting to the row, an admin of his YouTube channel in a post on the channel's community page said, "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. We value the diversity of perspectives that come through on our shows and remain committed to ensuring the conversation stays true to the integrity and purpose of the platform we’ve established. The views expressed by our guests do not reflect Ashwin’s personal opinions,”

CSK are currently in the middle of a severe slump in performance. They have lost their last 3 games in a row after beating Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2025 season opener.

After their latest loss to Delhi Capitals, CSK coach Stephen Fleming was asked about his opinions on players having their own YouTube channel. He When he was asked if the opinions presented on YouTube channels can make things awkward in the dressing room, he responded by saying that he had no Idea. “I didn’t even know that Ashwin had a channel, so I don’t follow those things. That’s irrelevant.”