Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is set to play his first overseas franchise T20 league.
Ravichandran Ashwin signs for San Francisco Unicorns
On Saturday (March 28), Major League Cricket side San Francisco Unicorns announced the signing of Ashwin for the 2026 season. He will become the first India-capped cricketer to play in Major League Cricket, which began in 2023. Active Indian men's cricketers are not allowed to play overseas T20 competitions; Ashwin retired from international cricket midway through the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and then retired from the IPL after the 2025 season.
He finished with over 3,500 runs and 500 wickets in Test cricket, and also took 187 wickets in the IPL.
In his retirement announcement, he said his "time as an explorer of the game around various leagues begins today." In that spirit, he joined the Sydney Thunder for the most recent Big Bash League season, but was ruled out of the competition with injury.
Ashwin ventured into media through his YouTube channel towards the end of his career, and is still active on the platform after retirement. Yesterday, it was also announced that he would be part of the Hindi commentary feed for this IPL season.
"The MLC has proven over recent seasons that it can put on a show, bringing in world-class players and offering significant exposure to US domestic cricket talent, and the opportunity to be a part of it with the San Francisco Unicorns was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up," the spinner said in a statement released by the franchise.
"Taking on the mantle as the first Indian-capped player to compete in Major League Cricket is a major responsibility that I fully embrace. My absolute focus is to help this franchise win games and push for its first Championship, while also putting on a spectacular brand of cricket for the Bay Area fans."
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