India's legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is set for his high profile Big Bash League (BBL) debut. Playing for David Warner's Sydney Thunder, two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winner will be in the spotlight as he has agreed to play the full season after ILT20 auction snub. Weeks ahead of his BBL debut, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has a warning for all batters in the league. Shastri doesn't want non-strikers to leave their crease early as Ashwin will not hesitate from running them out.
“Don't leave your crease. He'll run you out. That's the first message. Don't try and steal a run, because he'll take those bails off, and rightly so. You have no business outside your crease,” Shastri told the Australian media ahead of the three-ODI series.
While India’s Under-19 World Cup 2012-winning captain Unmukt Chand has played in the BBL before, this is the first time a Test legend will grace Australia’s premier T20 competition. Shastri feels that Ashwin’s arrival will be huge for the league considering his stature in Test cricket.
“Think this is the first time an Indian player is coming, so that itself is huge. And he is not just any Indian player; he is someone who has taken close to 600 wickets (in Tests). He is someone who loves playing and wants to...I have spoken to him and he's playing the whole Big Bash this time,” he said.
Ashwin will make his BBL debut against Nathan Ellis-led Hobart Hurricanes at Bellerive Oval, Hobart on December 16.
Ashwin as approached by a few BBL teams but it was Warner’s Sydney Thunder who had a clear communication with him regarding his role in the season.
Ashwin’s last T20I appearance on Australian soil
Interestingly, Ashwin's last T20I appearance was in Australia during T20 World Cup 2022. He could not make a mark in the semifinal clash against Jos Buttler's England who went on to lift the trophy. Ashwin will return to Adelaide on January 6.