Ashwin joins Worcestershire

LONDON: Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will play for Worcestershire for the rest of their County Championship campaign, it was revealed on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old — who took 17 wickets on the recent tour of Sri Lanka as India completed their first three-Test series sweep on foreign soil on Monday — will replace Australian John Hastings as the county’s overseas player in a coup for the second-tier side.

The county will hope Ashwin, ranked number three in the bowler’s Test world rankings and second in the all-rounder lists, propels them to promotion in their final four matches.Ashwin will be the first Indian player to play for Worcestershire since Zaheer Khan resurrected his international career after a superb season with them in 2006.

“Ravi is a fantastic international cricketer who is currently in terrific form with his game,” purred Worcestershire’s chief executive Steve Rhodes in a statement released by the club.“He is ranked in the top three as a bowler in Test cricket, is a wonderful all-rounder who can bat six and scores hundreds in Test cricket.

“It is unlucky for John Hastings with his injury but Ravi is a wonderful cricketer for us to have at a crucial point in our season.“It is a really important last few games in the Championship and to have someone of his class is a huge boost for the club.”

Ashwin has taken 286 wickets in 51 Tests, including five wickets in an innings on 26 occasions, 150 ODI wickets and 52 in T20Is.