Premier India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has signed up with London based Surrey for the club’s next round County Championship fixture against Somerset, starting Sunday.
Ashwin will get some crucial game time and overs under his belt at The Oval before rejoining the Indian team’s camp in Durham for their pre-series preparations ahead of the all-important five-match Test series against England.
Ashwin has got the opportunity to represent Surrey as their second overseas player alongside South African great Hashim Amla after untimely injuries to Sean Abbott and Kyle Jamieson.
“Once the extent of Jamieson’s injury was understood, Director of Cricket Alec Stewart began the process of recruiting Ashwin for this fixture,”
the club said in a media statement.
On his part, Ashwin, who has opted to cut short the break that Indian players have got since the end of the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, said he is “delighted” on joining Surrey.
“I am so privileged to be having the badge on. I have heard and wondered what the London counties are all about. Even though it’s only for a game, I am delighted to share this dressing room,” Ashwin was heard saying in a video posted over Surrey’s Twitter handle.
The stint with Surrey is Ashwin’s third in the County Championship where he has previously played for Worcestershire in 2017 and Nottinghamshire in 2019. The off-spinner had also signed up with Yorkshire for the 2020 summer but the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the deal.
Ashwin, arguably the world’s best Test match spinner, has an incredible record to his name. The 34-year-old has taken 413 wickets from 79 Tests at an average of only 24.56. In the recently concluded inaugural WTC cycle, Ashwin ended as the top wicket-taker with 71 scalps from 14 Tests at just 20.33 and an economy rate of only 2.62.
The Test series begins on August 4 at Trent Bridge.
