Ashwin to play entire BBL season with Sydney Thunder

NEW DELHI: Ravichandran Ashwin has agreed to play the entire upcoming season of the Big Bash League for Sydney Thunder, just a day after he went unsold at the ILT20 auction in Dubai, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Ashwin has joined Sydney Thunder for the upcoming BBL season, becoming the first Indian capped men’s cricketer to play in the league. The move follows Ashwin’s retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year, which allowed him to participate in overseas T20 leagues.

Only retired Indian players are allowed by the BCCI to participate in overseas T20 leagues. Before the ILT20 auction, Ashwin was listed as fully available for the tournament and would have gone to BBL after its conclusion. However, after he went unsold in the ILT20 Season 4 auction on Wednesday, Ashwin has agreed to play the entire BBL season.

The 2025-26 BBL season is scheduled to start on December 14, 2025, with the final match to be played on January 25, 2026.

Ashwin said he had “verbally” agreed with ILT20 to feature in the 2025-26 edition, which will be played between December 2 and January 4.

“I had agreed verbally with ILT20, but then the franchise offers were pretty low because the direct signings had been closed by all teams,” Ashwin said as per ESPNcricinfo.

“Meanwhile, Thunder came with a good deal, but since I had verbally agreed with ILT20, I entered the auction saying this is the minimum price I want to play for, else I am happy going to the BBL,” he added.

In 287 matches for India, Ashwin’s off-spin claimed 765 international wickets, including 537 scalps in Test format. Ashwin lifted the Cricket World Cup (2011) and Champions Trophy (2013).

He was named the ICC’s Cricketer and Test Cricketer of the Year of 2016 and a member of the 2011-20 Men’s Test Team of the Decade.

During his stint in the IPL, Ashwin made 221 appearances for five franchises, making him the tournament’s seventh most-capped player.

He is a two-time IPL champion with Chennai Super Kings, having won in 2010 and 2011, and has 187 career wickets in the tournament, ranking him fifth all-time. He has a total of 317 wickets in 333 T20 matches. (ANI)