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Ravichandran Ashwin may play a County Championship match for Surrey ahead of India’s five-match Test series against hosts England, which starts on 4th August. The Indian off-spinner’s chances of representing Surrey depend on the timely arrival of his work visa, which is a mandatory requirement to play county cricket.

Ravichandran Ashwin is expected to play in county side Surrey’s next match against Somerset at The Oval, starting July 11. The spinner has previously represented Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire in county cricket.

Ravichandran Ashwin Was Inaugural World Test Championship’s Highest Wicket Taker With 71 Scalps

Indian team is currently on a break after their 8 wicket defeat in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand last month. Ravichandran Ashwin, though, was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 71 wickets from 14 Tests at 20.33. India’s Test series against England starts at Trent Bridge on August 4.

India hasn’t played enough games in their recent overseas tours. However, skipper Virat Kohli has made it clear that the side is keen on playing practice matches. Although India has requested practice matches, nothing has been scheduled yet officially. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is likely to organize a tour game for the visiting Indian team later this month. It will be a three-day game with Select County XI from July 20 to 22.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s outing at the venue of the Test series will, therefore, be beneficial from India’s point of view. Surrey has Hashim Amla and Kyle Jamieson as their overseas players, with the latter in doubt for the next fixture due to an injury. Kyle Jamieson, incidentally, was Man of the Match for picking 7 wickets including a five-wicket haul in the WTC Final.

Ravichandran Ashwin has an old connection with Trent Bridge. In the 2019 County Championship, he turned up for Nottinghamshire. Though he played just five first-class matches, Ravichandran Ashwin left an impression. He was the side’s most impressive bowler with 34 wickets at 24.58. He also topped the batting average charts for the county side by slamming two fifties and finishing with 339 runs at 37.66.

Shubman Gill Ruled Out For 8 Weeks And Ishant Sharma Injured But Is Expected To Recover In Time For England Tests

Ishant Sharma celebrates after dismissing Devon Conway [Image-Twitter]

Indian team management’s request to selectors for sending openers Prithvi Shaw and Devdutt Padikkal to join the Test squad in England has been declined. The request was made after opener Shubman Gill’s injury surfaced following the completion of the World Test Championship (WTC) versus New Zealand in Southampton.The England board is launching The Hundred on July 21, and as a result, most England and county players are expected to be busy with the new white-ball tournament with their respective franchises. The need for the warm-up game was felt by the Indian team management after the World Test Championship (WTC) final, which they had lost to New Zealand last month. India had played only an intra-squad practice game before the marquee final.

India’s squad for England series: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Shubman Gill (injured and likely to be replaced), Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav.