Ashwin ruled out of the rest of MLC 2026 with a knee injury
A right knee injury has ended Ravichandran Ashwin’s Major League Cricket season after a single appearance, with the San Francisco Unicorns bringing in Australia’s Peter Siddle as his replacement.
Jul 10, 2026
It has been a rough year for Ravichandran Ashwin’s right knee. The San Francisco Unicorns have confirmed that the off-spinner will play no further part in Major League Cricket this season because of the injury, cutting short a campaign that barely got going.
“I’m disappointed to end the season early, but unfortunately, this injury means that’s the right decision,” Ashwin said.
One game, then out
Ashwin’s MLC 2026 came down to a single outing. He bowled two overs for 24 runs without a wicket against the Texas Super Kings in Dallas on 20 June, and did not appear again before the knee ruled him out for the rest of the tournament. Stepping in for him is Peter Siddle, the vastly experienced Australia seamer, who joins a Unicorns side that has spent much of the season among the front-runners.
The same knee that cost him the Big Bash
This is not the first time the joint has got in his way. Ashwin signed for Sydney Thunder in September 2025, becoming the first capped India men’s international to join a Big Bash club, only to hurt the knee in training in Chennai and need surgery. Thunder ruled him out of the entire 2025-26 BBL that November, and he never got to make his debut. Seven months on, the same problem has ended his first MLC season too.
Ashwin has kept himself busy since he stopped playing for India. He retired from international cricket in December 2024 and walked away from the IPL last August, which freed him up to take on franchise cricket around the world. The trade-off is a heavier T20 workload deep into his 30s, and a body that is starting to pick its moments to complain.
A European job still on the calendar
There is already more cricket booked in. Ashwin is set to captain and mentor the Dublin Guardians, the Rahul Dravid-owned side in the new European T20 Premier League, when the competition runs from 26 August to 20 September across Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. Getting the knee right for that is now the priority. On this evidence, the Unicorns will not be the last team hoping it holds up.