New overseas signing Ravi Ashwin’s influence on Yorkshire Cricket is set to extend beyond just his wickets and runs in the Specsavers County Championship this summer, with the India star looking to advance his own coaching experience.
Ashwin is Yorkshire’s third overseas signing of the winter and their fourth recruit in all.
Keshav Maharaj will begin the season by playing the first two Championship matches before Ashwin takes over in that competition after his commitments at the Indian Premier League with the Delhi Capitals finish in late May. The plan is for him then to be available for the remainder of the season in four-day cricket.
I have signed up with
YorkshireCCC</a> for the upcoming <a href="https://twitter.com/CountyChamp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">CountyChamp season. It’s a season I am really looking forward to, ???? for some good results.— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) January 16, 2020
West Indian Nicholas Pooran has been signed up to play in the Vitality Blast, while the marquee domestic signing has come in the form of England batsman Dawid Malan on a four-year contract after his departure from Middlesex.
“I think we’ve done some good business this year and have done it early,” said White Rose coach Andrew Gale.
Ashwin was the leading wicket-taker throughout the last decade across all forms of international cricket, with the 33-year-old claiming 564 scalps (364 in Tests, 150 in ODIs and 52 in T20Is).
In terms of his coaching ambitions, Yorkshire are only too happy to have him around during the Royal London one-day Cup, while he will work closely with the club’s young spinners such as James Logan and Jack Shutt.
“We saw the impact Kesh had on our young spinners, and it was mentioned at the end of the season how they wanted to mirror his preparation in pre-season,” said Gale. “We’re hoping Ravi has the same kind of impact.
“He’s looking to get into coaching, so we’ve spoken about that with him. He will stay on when we play the 50-over competition to help out a bit, and that will be good for everybody.”
