Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg has reached out to Ravichandran Ashwin about the prospect of becoming the first high-profile Indian cricketer to feature in the Big Bash League.
Last week, Ashwin announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League, allowing him to become a franchise cricket free agent and explore opportunities at other T20 leagues. Currently, IPL players are banned from participating in other T20 competitions.
“My time as an explorer of the game around various leagues begins today,” the 38-year-old tweeted.
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As first reported by Cricbuzz, Greenberg has contacted Ashwin to gauge his interest in a potential stint at the Big Bash, details of which are still being ironed out. It would be a significant acquisition for the BBL, which has often struggled to attract the world’s biggest stars.
If the groundbreaking deal comes to fruition, the veteran off-spinner would be a massive attraction for Australia’s Indian expat community, influencing ticket sales and boosting television ratings.
Fox Sports understands the Melbourne Stars are interested in the prospect of pursuing Ashwin’s signature, but CA would need to finalise a deal with the Indian star before any of the Big Bash franchises could make a move for his services.
The Stars would be a leading contender to sign Ashwin courtesy of the Victorian capital’s growing south Asian population, while the Melbourne-based franchise currently doesn’t have a strike finger spinner in its squad. Meanwhile, the Sydney Thunder also looms as an option due to the spin-friendly conditions at Sydney Showground.
However, plenty of logistical hurdles stand in the way of acquiring Ashwin for this season’s Big Bash – the competition’s overseas player draft has already taken place, meaning he could only be signed as a replacement player, while clubs will struggle to unearth space in their salary cap for him.
The Stars have already signed batter Joe Clarke, all-rounder Tom Curran and speedster Haris Rauf – only three international players are permitted in a Big Bash club’s starting XI, meaning a member of the superstar trio would need to make way for Ashwin’s inclusion.
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Ashwin is the IPL’s fifth-leading wicket-taker of all time with 187 scalps at 30.22, winning two titles with the Chennai Super Kings. He retired from international cricket during last summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The first Indian to play in the BBL was Unmukt Chand, who represented the Melbourne Renegades in two matches during the 2021/22 season. However, the former India A representative had already retired from Indian cricket to play for the United States.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney last week, Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood predicted that “more and more” Indian players would follow in Ashwin’s footsteps over the coming years.
“I was surprised to see him retire from IPL,” Hazlewood said of Ashwin.
“With just the sheer amount of players that are in India playing at such a high level, and only so many spots in Indian teams and then IPL teams, there’s got to be someone out there who is keen to get on the franchise train.”
The 15th edition of the BBL gets underway on December 14.
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