Ashwin to angry CSK fans: Enjoy the Ishan Kishan celebration, why bring ego into it?

Ravichandran Ashwin waded into the social media firestorm surrounding Ishan Kishan’s provocative celebrations in Chepauk, urging grieving fans to put aside their egos and embrace the inherent drama of elite sport.

Following SunRisers Hyderabad’s five-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings – a result that sealed SRH’s play-off berth – Kishan sparked massive backlash online. emulating CSK’s iconic ‘Whistle Pod’ gesture. and motioned the crowd at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to pack up and leave.

While the Chennai faithful took to social media to condemn the act as “arrogant” and “disrespectful”, local hero Ashwin took a pragmatic approach, viewing the incident as raw, unfiltered entertainment rather than malice.

“I want to talk about the super reliable player of the day, Ishan Kishan,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, addressing the elephant in the digital room.

“But I won’t go too deep. There’s a lot of discussion on social media about the celebration he did after the game. Let it go, yaar (mate). It’s all athletes, emotions are part of the game. Don’t take it personally, enjoy it.”

The veteran off-spinner questioned why a piece of on-field theatrics was elevated to a matter of personal insult.

“Every player here represents India in cricket. A player has come and celebrated in front of you – why bring ego into it? Leave it alone, enjoy it,” argued Ashwin. “If all this isn’t there, where’s the fun? Where’s the drama?”

A WORD OF CAUTION

While Ashwin was quick to defend the emotional nature of the outburst, he admitted that the young wicketkeeper-batsman was very good with his direct hit into the stands. As Ishan Kishan conquered one of the toughest places to visit, his emotions were understandably high his efforts to win the match.

“Maybe next time Ishan can keep the celebration a bit more under control, especially with what he said towards the crowd. I mean, can it be avoided? It can be. But I enjoyed it,” Ashwin admitted.

“It’s not easy for another team to come to someone else’s home ground and beat a team like (CSK).* But they did it, didn’t they? After losing so much in the previous game, they came back and won this one. Let it go. A sportsman tells you, ‘I came to your home ground and I beat you.’ That’s all.”

“Keep that in mind as fans and as a team – next time go to Hyderabad and beat them there, then bring it back,” Ashwin said. “But do it very respectfully.

SRH will now look to finish in the top two spots in the points table. The 2016 champions will take on table-toppers Royal Challengers Bengaluru on May 22 in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, Super Kings, who are almost out of contention, will take on Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on May 21.

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

19 May 2026 14:13 IST