County Championship announce Ashwin's signing with 'mankading' tweet

What’s the story?

The Twitter account of the County Championship of England has taken a cheeky mankading dig while announcing the signing of Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

In case you didn’t know...

Ashwin had mankaded Jos Buttler in a league match between the Kings XI Punjab and the Rajasthan Royals in the recently concluded IPL 2019. The event had created quite a buzz in the world of cricket with people taking different sides. While some agreed that Ashwin was right in running out Buttler, others felt that it was not in the spirit of cricket.

The heart of the matter

Ashwin is India’s fourth-leading wicket taker of all time in Test cricket, having claimed 342 scalps, including 26 five-wicket hauls. The 32-year-old has also amassed 2,361 runs at an average of 29.14 in his 65 Test matches to date.

Ravichandran Ashwin will join Nottinghamshire as their overseas player for six County Championship games from late June. Ashwin will replace Australia seam bowler James Pattinson, who is expected to be part of his country's Ashes squad. Ashwin previously played for Worcestershire in 2017.

While revealing that Ashwin had signed for County side Nottinghamshire, the Twitter account posted a tweet saying, “FYI non-strikers, Notts have a new signing!.”

FYI non-strikers. Notts have a new signing! pic.twitter.com/PfUnTOnAcr

— County Championship (@CountyChamp) May 23, 2019

Speaking on his new venture, Ashwin said, "It's a good, competitive standard of cricket over there and I can't wait to get started. I'm really looking forward to joining up with Nottinghamshire, to playing cricket at an iconic venue like Trent Bridge and hopefully contributing to some County Championship victories."

What’s next?

Ashwin will start his Notts stint at home to Essex on 30 June, followed by matches against Somerset and Surrey. Ashwin would not be available for Notts' game against Yorkshire because of international commitments with India. However, he is expected to return to face Kent, Warwickshire and Surrey in the final three matches of the Division One season.