Watch: Ravichandran Ashwin Picks His First Wicket For Surrey Against Somerset; Castles Tom Lammonby

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, in a bid to get some match time under his belt, arranged to play for English county side Surrey in their group 2 match against Somerset at the Kennington Oval, which began on July 11, Sunday.

The Indian team has been in the UK, on a break, after their loss to New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, which was played at Southampton’s Ageas Bowl from June 18-23. One of the biggest reasons for India’s downfall in the match was cited as lack of match practice.

India had come into the WTC final straight after a break from playing in the IPL 2021, which was postponed in May due to the COVID-19 outbreak. India played just one intra-squad match and had 8-10 practice sessions, while New Zealand played two Tests against England and beat them 1-0 in the series.

This led to the BCCI asking England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to arrange for some practice matches ahead of the five-match Test series between England and India which begins on August 4 with the first Test to be played in Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

Ravichandran Ashwin Removes Tom Lammonby Of Somerset To Get His Maiden Wicket For Surrey

The ECB has arranged for a practice match for India against the Selected Counties XI. However, Ravichandran Ashwin went ahead and arranged a practice match with the help of ECB and the BCCI and was added to Surrey’s playing XI for their group 2 match against Somerset in Kennington Oval in London. The Oval will also hold the fourth Test match between England and India and though Ashwin will play just one match for Surrey, it will a valuable experience for the tweaker ahead of the England series.

In a video posted by Surrey on their Twitter account, Ravichandran Ashwin had said: ” I am so privileged to be having the badge on. I have heard and wondered what the London counties are all about. Even though it’s only for a game, I am delighted to share this dressing room.”

? Hi, @ashwinravi99!

"It's my absolute privilege to play for Surrey"

A live stream of Surrey's meeting with Somerset will be available at 11am BST on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/Oqf3kTZiwA

— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 10, 2021

Meanwhile, as the match began, Surrey was asked to bowl first as Somerset captain James Hildreth won the toss and chose to bat first. The captain led from the front scoring a brilliant century while Steven Davies and Tom Lammonby scored 42 runs apiece and left-hander Lammonby became Ashwin’s first victim in this match.

Lammonby shouldered his arms to an arm ball from Ravichandran Ashwin, and the ball went straight and clattered into the stumps. This was just poetic as Ashwin is the only bowler in Test cricket to dismiss over 200 left-handed batsmen.

Here is the video:

? Don't leave those.

WATCH LIVE ⏩ https://t.co/0WriMzkGx9 pic.twitter.com/nbJ6zvMyyx

— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 11, 2021

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