“It is not like it’s something personal” - Ravi Ashwin reacts after facing backlash for not picking Virat Kohli in his best team of IPL 2025

Former Indian cricketer Ravi Ashwin received a huge flak for not picking the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener, Virat Kohli, in his best team of the IPL 2025 season. Notably, Virat Kohli ended the season as the third leading run-scorer of the edition with 657 runs from 15 innings at an average of 54.75.

Reacting to the backlash, the former spinner Ashwin stated that though Kohli played really well, we couldn’t fit him in his XI. However, he requested fans to not think there is something personal between the two of them. 

"We recently released the team of the IPL, and you guys were saying in the comments that I forgot Kohli's name or that I did not talk about him. Of course, Virat played really well, but there was no place for him in that team. It is not like it's something personal, please do not think like that," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

A look at Ravi Ashwin’s best team of IPL 2025:

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

Furthermore, in a most recent conversation, Ashwin revealed that he loves Virat Kohli. However, he made it clear that there is no cricketer who has played the game or will play the game, higher than the game itself.

"I love Virat, but he has come, played the game, left the game, left it at a great place. And now, it is for someone else to take it forward. I do not think anybody who has played the game, or will play the game, is higher than the game itself," Ashwin said in an interview with RevSportz.

It’s important to note that Team India, led by Shubman Gill, will be playing for the first time without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the red-ball format against England away from home, starting on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds.

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