India off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has decided to stay a little longer in England after completing the eagerly anticipated Test series.
The 31-year-old will re-join Worcestershire for their final two County Championship games in 2018 after a successful spell at New Road last season.
Ashwin, who has arrived in England to take part in India’s warm-up match against Essex at Chelmsford from Wednesday, is likely to start as India’s lead spinner for the five-Test series, while his four hundreds should see him contributing with the bat
Last season, Ashwin had a major impact at Worcestershire, taking 20 wickets in four matches while averaging 42.50 with the bat.
“We are delighted to have Ashwin coming back for what could be a key part of the season,” said Worcestershire’s chief executive, Matt Rawnsley.
“He is one of the best spinners in world cricket and the influence he had when here last season cannot be underestimated.
“The lads all speak so highly of him, the impact he had on the field and the way he slotted in so well off the pitch and he was willing to offer advice to our young spinners like Ben Twohig.”
Most Test wickets post Muralidharan...
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 23, 2018
375 @ 55 b/w - James Anderson (90 Tests)
359 @ 57 b/w - Rangana Herath (70)
334 @ 56 b/w - Stuart Broad (90)
316 @ 53 b/w - R Ashwin (58)
306 @ 63 b/w - Nathan Lyon (78)
b/w - balls per wicket#SLvSA
The two matches Ashwin will feature in are Worcestershire’s trip to Essex, starting on September 18, and the home game against Yorkshire the following week.
The Worcester-based side currently sit bottom of Division One, and need reinforcements as they seek to avoid being relegated back to Division Two for the third time in ten years.
“Ashwin is world class and he loved it at Worcestershire,” added head coach Kevin Sharp.
“Conversations have been ongoing about him coming back and I’m sure he will be a great fillip for us.
“He had a massive input for us on and off the field last summer in helping us gain promotion and he is a high class individual.”
Unfortunately Virat Kohli had to pull out of a stint with Surrey due to injury, but several other India stars have enjoyed spells in county cricket this summer.
Cheteshwar Pujara played the first half of the season for Yorkshire, while Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron played for Sussex and Leicestershire respectively, and Axar Patel has signed for a spell at Durham.
