Ravichandran Ashwin to play for Yorkshire in the summer, will follow Tendulkar's footsteps

Yorkshire Cricket has announced that Indian spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin will be playing for the club for a majority of the country cricket season. The club made the announcement on Thursday morning and said that he will play in a minimum of eight matches. 

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Ashwin set to fly to England

Ashwin will be joining the club after the Indian Premier League (IPL) and after a short resting period recommended by the BCCI. Ashwin has previously played for Worcestershire in 2017 and 2018 and Nottinghamshire in the summer of 2019.

The Tamil Nadu based player said that he was delighted to join the squad and said, "I’m thrilled to be joining Yorkshire, a club with a wonderful history and a fantastic fan base. I think our team looks extremely talented with some superb pace bowlers and exciting batsmen. Hopefully, my role as the spinner will be a key feature in helping the team achieve success. Headingley has always been a fantastic venue to play at. People speak about the overhead conditions playing a big part so let’s hope for plenty of sun."

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Speaking on his career in India and following legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's path, he said, "I feel I have been consistent over a long period of time which has helped my success for India. I’m a deep thinker about the game and bowling in particular and will be researching my opponents carefully to ensure I have the edge..I know a lot about Yorkshire and to follow in the footsteps of Sachin, who played for the county many years ago is a wonderful feeling for me.” Ashwin will be following Keshav Maharaj's spell with the team last summer.

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Ashwin is India's fourth-highest wicket-taker with 362 wickets to his name. During his stint with Worcestershire, in 2017, he picked up 20 wickets in just four matches. He was not able to have a similar impact the following year because of an injury. 

In 2019, during his spell with Nottinghamshire, he claimed 34 wickets and socred 339 runs.

Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale said, "He can contribute with the bat as well. Ashwin ticks every box, he did well for Notts in a team that was underachieving with both bat and ball. To get a guy of his experience in and around the group will be great for us. His record says he performs well in England, he’s done well for Worcester and has done well for India in England as well. He’s got masses of experience and has done well wherever he’s gone across the world and, like I say, he can attack and defend so will give us nice control in the first innings and then second innings he will come into his own."

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