Ashwin is expected to play in six of Notts’ seven final red-ball games, replacing current overseas fast bowler James Pattinson.

“I’m really looking forward to joining up with Nottinghamshire, to playing cricket at an iconic venue like Trent Bridge and hopefully contributing to some County Championship victories,” said the off-spinner.

Ashwin played county cricket for Worcestershire in 2017, and returned 20 wickets at 29.15 while averaging 42.80 with the bat. The 32-year-old will miss Notts’ trip to Scarborough to play Yorkshire due to international commitments.

Upon the announcement of the signing, Nottinghamshire director of cricket Mick Newell hailed Ashwin as a “world-class bowler”.

[caption id=”attachment_71873″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Ravi Ashwin is a mainstay of India’s Test team[/caption]

“We’ve signed a very good spinner, a very experienced spinner and one we hope can contribute with the bat as well,” said Newell. “We’ve seen world-class slow bowlers have a huge match-winning effect in county cricket over many years.

“Ravi certainly has that potential – and we’re very much looking forward to welcoming him to the squad and letting him loose on our opposition.”

Ashwin will begin his season against Essex at Trent Bridge on Sunday, June 30.