Ace Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is in line to play in the County Championship for Surrey before the all-important India-England Test series, which is scheduled to begin from August 4 in Nottingham. Ashwin is likely to play in the county match starting from July 11.

ESPNcricinfo revealed this news on their website. According to the report, Ashwin is waiting for the work visa to be granted so that he can participate in the championship.

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He is in England for over a month with the Indian team. He played the World Test Championship Final last month against New Zealand, who won the inaugural championship by eight wickets to claim their maiden ICC title since 2000.

Surrey and Ashwin are confident that the visa will arrive before the next game. Surrey will be playing Somerset from July 11 to 14 – the day Indian players are asked to report back to Team India’s camp.

It was earlier reported that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is preparing to put together a ‘Select County XI’ who will play India in a warm-up match. Tentative dates for the three-day game, which will be accorded the first-class status, is between July 20-22.

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“We are working through the operations and COVID-19 protocols to ensure we are able to deliver this and will confirm in due course. The Indian Test team will report to Emirates Riverside, Durham for their pre-Test camp on 15 July and will prepare at the venue until August 1 before heading to Trent Bridge, Nottingham ahead of the first Test starting on August 4,” said an ECB spokesperson.

Team India will play five-match Test series against England that will also kick-off the second cycle of the World Test Championship. The series will begin in Nottingham before it moves to Lord’s, London. Leeds, Kennington Oval and Manchester will host the remaining three matches respectively.