London: Ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be playing for Yorkshire for the major part of the 2020 County season. Ashwin, who will play for Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League 2020, is set to take up the reins as the Club’s front-line ‘overseas spinner’ following Keshav Maharaj’s successful stint in 2019.
The 33-year-old is scheduled to feature in a minimum of eight County Championship fixtures for Yorkshire next season, after the conclusion of his IPL commitments and following a short period of rest at the BCCI’s request. “I love playing first-class cricket and have enjoyed my two previous spells with Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire,” Ashwin said in a statement.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Yorkshire, a club with a wonderful history and a fantastic fan base,” said the Indian off-spinner. “My role will be to score runs and take wickets but it will be a collective effort if we are to win the title. “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.”
The Chennai-born bowling all-rounder has taken 362 wickets in 70 Tests, 254 of those in 43 home Tests and recently claimed his 27th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Widely regarded as one of the best spinners India has ever produced, he is his country’s fourth-highest wicket-taker and claimed the most international wickets across all three formats last decade (564).
Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale said, “With Kesh (Keshav Maharaj) doing so well last year, it shows the importance of having a spinner who can attack and defend. 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.”
