Will R Ashwin represent Surrey: There are strong chances of the premier Indian spinner playing for his second county side this month.
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After playing the final match of the inaugural World Test Championship, the Indian team is currently on a break and will reunite on July 14 in Durham. With the first Test against England scheduled to be played from August 4 at Trent Bridge, they will get around three weeks’ time to prepare for the same.
As of now, India don’t have any practice match scheduled before the first Test. However, if reports are to be believed, the Indian team management has requested the ECB (England Cricket Board) for a three-day practice match against a county side later this month.
Will R Ashwin represent Surrey in County Championship 2021?
As far as getting more acclimatized to the conditions are concerned, India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is in line to represent his third county side in Surrey for their 10th County Championship 2021 match against Somerset at The Oval.
Slated to begin from July 11, the match will end on July 14 – the same day when Ashwin can join the Indian squad. Having said that, a potential concern for Ashwin’s participation in the county match is that he will have to obtain a work visa before July 11 to be eligible to play county cricket.
Assuming that the paperwork is completed, Surrey would be hoping for Ashwin to generate some impact in what has otherwise been a lacklustre season for them. In their nine matches so far, Surrey have only won two to be at the fourth position in Group 2 points table.
It is worth mentioning that Ashwin has played county cricket for Worcestershire (2017) and Nottinghamshire in the past. In County Championship 2019, Ashwin had picked 34 wickets in five matches at an average and strike rate of 24.58 and 52.5 respectively. Not just that, Ashwin had also scored 339 runs at an average of 37.66 including a couple of half-centuries in his maiden county season.
Had it not been for a groin injury which he sustained during India’s tour of England in 2018, Ashwin would’ve represented Worcestershire for the second season in a row.
