After ILT20 snub, Ravichandran Ashwin commits to full BBL season: Report

Ravichandran Ashwin commits to full BBL seaon. (BCCI Photo)

Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has reportedly committed to a complete season in the Big Bash League (BBL).  Ashwin originally signed a shorter deal that would have just covered a few league games and the playoffs, but he has now extended it to stay available for the duration of the competition. The BBL 2025 is scheduled from December 14 to January 25.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, Ashwin’s full-season availability for the BBL stems from a simple reason, his ILT20 stint never took off after he went unsold in the opening auction round on Wednesday. He quickly withdrew from the subsequent rounds, unwilling to play in the league for a reduced fee.

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The report added that Ashwin was dissatisfied with the outcome of the ILT20 auction, having entered it with the highest base price of $120,000 among the registered players.

"That's the price I wanted as a bare minimum, and I'm happy not to play at this stage of my career if my value isn't met," the report quoted Ashwin as saying.

Although he may have been selected in the next round, he chose not to proceed, as the report quoted, "I was about to pull out a few days before the auction because of the Thunder deal, but since I had already committed to the ILT20 that I would enter the auction, I honoured my word. However, I did not agree to lowering my base price."

According to the report, he had confirmed on Thursday that he had committed to the Sydney Thunder for the entire season.

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"I have signed up with Sydney Thunder for the entire season," he said.

Thunder and BBL decided to grant him an exemption because he had already verbally committed to ILT20. However, the price had to be greater.