Published: Aug 14, 2017, 12:23 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 14, 2017, 12:36 PM (IST)
India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin all set to make his County debut this season. Ashwin after much speculation has been roped in by Worcestershire. Ashwin in all likelihood could be available for Worcestershire’s match against Gloucestershire on August 28. Ashwin was not picked for the limited-over’s leg for India’s tour of Sri Lanka. Ashwin’s partner in crime in Sri Lanka, Ravindra Jadeja’s County stint remains unconfirmed. Currently sweating it out as 12th man in the Test series, Ishant Sharma too will be making his County debut playing for Warwickshire.
Worcestershire are currently placed second in division two of the County Championship. As per a report on ESPNCricInfo, if Ashwin plays for Worcestershire he could very well be pitted against his Indian teammate, Cheteshwar Pujara, in his second County game. Pujara will be back for another stint with Nottinghamshire after India’s successful Test tour of Sri Lanka. Nottinghamshire are currently placed on top of the table. Pujara scored 223 runs in five innings for Nottinghamshire; including a match-winning ton against Gloucestershire. A total of three Indians have played for Worcestershire – Nawab of Pataudi sr , Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan. While Nawab of Patuadi sr played 33 matches for them, Kapil and Zaheer featured in 24 and 16 matches respectively.
Gloucestershire currently has as many as three overseas players – Michael Klinger, Cameron Bancroft, Andrew Tye— all Australians. Ashwin currently playing the third Test versus Sri Lanka, has picked up as many as 14 wickets at 28.92, followed closely by Jadeja with 13 scalps at 28.76.
