Ravichandran Ashwin has made history in the field of cricket by becoming the first Indian male player to be part of Australia Big Bash League. Thursday saw the veteran all-rounder sign with the Sydney Thunder, and it has brought to an end years of limitations on Indian men being present in overseas T20 leagues.
The 39 year old has signed only a few months after he did retire international cricket in December and ended his Indian Premier league career last month. Having lost all connections with the BCCI, Ashwin could now explore the opportunities in foreign countries.
This is not the first time Indian women participated in the WBBL but the BCCI never gave male players a chance to participate in foreign leagues. That is why Ashwin made a breakthrough in Thunder deal in cricket. It was billed by the club as its largest overseas signing since the establishment of the League.
The official joining of Ashwin in Sydney Thunder will be at the start of January when it is already in mid-season but he is first engaged in playing in the International League T20 in the UAE between December 2 and January 4.
The team stated that the Thunder Nation will host the largest foreign signing in the history of the League. Ashwin will contribute to our quest to achieve consecutive BBL Finals.
The off-spinner replied that he was persuaded to sign because of the clarity of the plans Thunder had. Thunder was crystal clear as to how they would dispose of me, and bold enough to support it, Ashwin said. He complimented on captain David Warner too: I love the way that Captain David Warner plays the game, and it is always better when your leader thinks the same as you.
At the end of his career in India, Ashwin can leave dizzyingly impressive statistics of the 765 wickets in all formats, and 537 in Tests. He was the fifth-highest wicket taker of 221 matches with 187 wickets in the IPL.
He is now willing to take his talent and experience to Australia, which had the potential of opening the floodgates to more Indian players.
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