“No Place for Him” – R Ashwin Issues Clarification on Not Including Virat Kohli in IPL 2025 Best Playing XI

Veteran Indian cricketer R Ashwin has responded to the buzz around his decision to exclude Virat Kohli from his best playing XI of IPL 2025.

The former off-spinner raised eyebrows when he named his top team of the season but did not include the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter, who had a stellar year.

Instead of Kohli, Ashwin picked Gujarat Titans’ opening duo Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill to start the innings. While both had strong seasons, fans were surprised that Kohli, who scored 657 runs at an average of 54.75 and a strike rate of 144.71, was not even considered.

Sai Sudharsan topped the run charts this season with 759 runs, earning him the Orange Cap, while Gill followed close behind with 650 runs at a strike rate of 155.87.

Facing heavy criticism on social media for ignoring Kohli, Ashwin offered an explanation and cleared the air, saying the selection was purely based on cricketing merit and not personal.

“We recently picked up a team, and there was no place for Virat Kohli. You mentioned that I forgot his name or didn’t talk about him. There is no doubt that Virat played well, but there was no place for him in the squad. It is not personal at all, so please don’t think like that,” Ashwin said during a discussion.

R Ashwin’s IPL 2025 Best XI 

Here is R Ashwin’s best IPL playing XI from the recently concluded 2025 season- 

Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Nicholas Pooran, Jitesh Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, and Noor Ahmad