India, Sept. 25 -- The legendary Ravichandran Ashwin became the first male player from India to join a Big Bash League franchise as Sydney Thunder confirmed his signing on Thursday for the impending 15th season of the T20 franchise league. The former India cricketer, who retired from the Indian Premier League (IPL), last month, will join the Thunder's camp in early January and ignite the club's push to play in consecutive finals.

Ashwin ended his international career in December last year, midway through the Border-Gavaskar Test series. He bid adieu to the format with 537 wickets, the seventh-highest in Test history. Overall, he claimed 765 international wickets in 287 appearances for India. Last month, he drew curtains on his IPL career...