Ravichandran Ashwin, the seasoned Indian off spinner who called time on his international and IPL career this year, is set to wear Sydney Thunder green in the coming Big Bash League season.
The 39-year-old off-spinner has committed to the Thunder, reported Fox Sports. The official announcement is expected later this week.
This would be a first for an Indian cricketer in the competition.
Sydney Thunder’s roster already includes names such as captain David Warner, Pat Cummins, Sam Billings, Chris Green, Sam Konstas, and Pakistan’s Shadab Khan.
But to have Ashwin and Shadab in the same dressing room is to pose a question larger than cricket.
The backdrop has been one of heightened hostility since the April 22 Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 lives. The aftermath saw retaliatory Indian airstrikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir in May, followed by a nearly 100 hour military conflict, the first such exchange since 1971.
India has maintained that terrorists backed by Pakistan, belonging to The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar e Taiba, were behind the killings.
On the cricket field too, the bitterness has found fresh expression.
On September 14, after India defeated Pakistan in a group-stage clash, the Indian players refused to shake hands with their counterparts, an episode that intensified the rivalry ahead of their Super 4 encounter on August 21.
The Dubai fixture, described as one of the most acrimonious matches between the two sides, was charged with altercations, gestures and sledging.
The highlight came when Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf clashed with Indian openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill.
Rauf’s hand gesture was interpreted by many as a reference to Islamabad’s unverified claim of having shot down Indian fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.
Ashwin himself had waded into the controversy before that clash. Speaking on his YouTube show Ash ki baat on September 21, he tore into Pakistan for creating what he called “unnecessary drama” over the handshake issue.
He came out in defence of match referee Andy Pycroft, accusing Pakistan of unfairly targeting the Zimbabwean official.
“Andy Pycroft actually saved everybody from seeing such a poor spectacle. India informed the match referee in advance — this is our decision, and we will follow it. That’s it. After all this drama, you lost the match. So what are you complaining about? You didn’t lose because we didn’t shake hands. Please go and find out what you can actually improve,” Ashwin said.
Ashwin’s joining a team that already has Shadab is bound to draw attention. Whether both will take the field and share the same space remains to be seen.
Cricket Australia runs the BBL, not the ICC or the BCCI, and no intervention is expected on that count.
Ashwin, at 39, steps into the league as a free agent, having retired from both India duty and the IPL.
He has also put his name into the ILT20 auction, and only after its conclusion on January 4 is he expected to join the Thunder for the latter part of their season that runs from December 14 to January 18.
Cricket Australia CEO Todd Greenberg reached out to him to make the possibility a reality, and since Ashwin did not register for this year’s BBL overseas draft, he will require an exemption similar to the one granted to Martin Guptill in 2022.
India’s second highest Test wicket taker with 537 dismissals, Ashwin has 187 IPL wickets from 221 matches, a handful of runs, and a reputation as one of the game’s shrewdest operators.
He drew the curtains on his international career during India’s tour of Australia last December.
And now, as Sydney Thunder prepare to unveil him, the intrigue lies not in his carrom ball or his off break but in how he and Shadab Khan might walk out together.