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The Hobart Hurricanes can now confirm that Afghan star Waqar Salamkheil will join the Purple Army after Rishad Hossain became unavailable for the duration of BBL|14 due to the Bangladesh Premier League.
Salamkheil, a left-arm wrist spinner, has most recently played in the Caribbean Premier League in October for the Trinbago Knight Riders taking 15 wickets in 11 matches.
He looks forward to joining the Hurricanes and debuting in the Big Bash League.
“I’m excited to be joining the Hurricanes for the first half of their upcoming BBL|14 campaign!
“It’s a competition I have always wanted to take part in and I’m looking forward to meeting my new teammates and support staff,” said Salamkheil.
Salamkheil will leave the Hurricanes after six games before joining the MI Emirates in the ILT20, starting in January.
Making his debut for Afghanistan as a 17-year-old in a test against Ireland, Salamkheil took two wickets in each innings, to help the Afghans to their first-ever test victory in 2019.
Since then, he has played for many different T20 franchises across the world, and his different variations will play a role for the Hurricanes against opposition who are unlikely to have faced him before.
He will be joining teammate Tim David in Hobart this summer, who played with Salamkheil at the Knight Riders in the CPL and also for the MI Emirates in the ILT20.
High Performance General Manager, Salliann Beams is happy to see such a talented young spinner on the Hurricanes list.
“Waqar is a tremendous young talent, he adds a different element to our bowling line-up and is a wrist spinner with a well-disguised wrong-un, similar to Rishad (Hossain).
“While we are disappointed that Rishad can’t join us because of the BPL, we know that we have someone who will help us win matches in the first half of the tournament in Waqar.
“He was on our radar during the draft, with Ricky (Ponting) and (James) Hopsey familiar with his talent after seeing him play in franchise cricket, he will complement what we have in our squad already,” stated Beams.
Salamakheil joins Iain Carlisle, Nikhil Chaudhary, Tim David, Paddy Dooley, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis, Peter Hatzoglou, Shai Hope (O/S), Caleb Jewell, Chris Jordan (O/S), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade, Charlie Wakim, and Mac Wright as Hurricanes players under contract ahead of BBL|14.
The Hobart Hurricanes start their BBL|14 campaign in just over three weeks, playing against the Melbourne Renegades at Geelong in their first game.
Memberships and Tickets for all Hurricanes matches are on sale now! Join the Purple Army today. |