Nottinghamshire have announced the signing of India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin for the second half of the Specsavers County Championship season.

It will be the off-spinner’s second stint in English cricket, after he turned out for Worcestershire in 2017.

The 32-year-old is an accomplished performer at the highest level with both bat and ball, and arrives at Trent Bridge armed with some formidable statistics.

Only Harbhajan Singh, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble have taken more wickets in Test matches for India than Ashwin, and all have played considerably more matches. Indeed, Ashwin reached 300 Test wickets faster than anybody else in Test history.

Ashwin’s Test bowling average of 25.43 is the best of any player to have taken more than 200 wickets for India.

In first-class cricket, Ashwin has taken 512 wickets at an average of 26.76, while his batting averages are 29.14 in Test cricket, 30.82 in first-class games and 42.80 in the County Championship.

Ashwin has notched up six first-class centuries – four of these in Tests.

Ashwin has consistently been recognised as the best all-rounder in the world by the ICC’s world rankings, most recently in 2017. He first reached top spot in November 2013.

The ICC's current Test bowling rankings feature Ashwin in 10th place; the off-spinner was most recently considered the best Test bowler in the world in 2017, having first ascended to number one in 2015.

Named in the ICC Test team of the year in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, Ashwin was also named ICC Test Player and Cricketer of the Year in 2016.

26 of these five-wicket hauls have been in Tests, including best figures of 7/59 against New Zealand in October 2016. Ashwin has taken ten wickets in a match on ten occasions – seven times in Tests.

Ashwin took 20 wickets in four championship games for Worcestershire, including two five-wicket hauls. The right-hander scored one half-century in his time with Worcestershire, and appeared alongside Joe Clarke for the Pears.

Only five other players have done this on at least two separate occasions in the history of Test cricket: Nottinghamshire legend Sir Garfield Sobers, Mushtaq Mohammad, Sir Ian Botham (five times), Jacques Kallis and Shakib Al Hasan.

********

You can watch Ashwin in action at Trent Bridge with a Nottinghamshire Membership. Packages start from £29 and include access to all Notts' scheduled home games, as well as entry to exclusive events. Click here to find out more...