Ravichandran Ashwin may play a match for Surrey before England Tests

Ravichandran Ashwin could play a County Championship match for Surrey ahead of India's five-match Test series against England. The off-spinner's chances of turning up for Surrey depend on the timely arrival of his work visa, which is a requisite to play county cricket.

According to ESPNCricinfo, Ashwin is expected to play Surrey’s next match against Somerset at The Oval, starting July 11. He has previously represented Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire.

Team India are currently on a break after their defeat in the World Test Championship (WTC) final to New Zealand last month. Ashwin was this WTC cycle’s highest wicket-taker, with 71 scalps from 14 Tests at 20.33.

India’s Test series against England starts at Trent Bridge on August 4.

India haven’t played enough games in their recent overseas tours. However, skipper Virat Kohli has made it clear that they are keen on playing practice matches. However, nothing has been scheduled yet. Ashwin’s outing in England will, therefore, be beneficial from Team India’s point of view.

Surrey have Hashim Amla and Kyle Jamieson as their overseas players but the latter in doubt for the next fixture due to an injury.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s impressive outing for Nottinghamshire

Ashwin is not new to Trent Bridge. In the 2019 County Championship, he turned up for Nottinghamshire. In just five matches he took 34 wickets at 24.58. The off-spinner also topped the batting charts for the county, slamming two fifties and finishing with 339 runs at 37.66.

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, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav.

Schedule for India’s tour of England

- 1st Test: Nottingham, August 4-8

- 2nd Test: Lord’s, August 12-16

- 3rd Test: Leeds, August 25-29

- 4th Test: The Oval, September 2-6

- 5th Test: Old Trafford, September 10-14