Brisbane, Aug 31 (IANS): Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman is all set to turn out for Big Bash League (BBL) side Brisbane Heat for his fourth season, the team announced on Tuesday.
The Afghanistan spinner was the club's second-leading wicket-taker last season with 14 scalps at a miserly average of 13.42, despite playing just eight games for the Heat.
The BBL is scheduled to commence on December 5 with the opening match between Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars.
Rahman's impact was considerable in those matches, displayed by his club best return of 5/15 against Hobart Hurricanes at the Gabba in December where he became the sixth player to take a five-wicket haul for the Heat. They were the fourth-best figures in the 10-year history of the BBL.
In his three BBL seasons to date, Mujeeb has claimed 29 wickets at 21.24, with an impressive economy rate of 6.13 and strike-rate of 20.75 from his 26 career games.
Mujeeb, who turns 21 in March next year, said he was delighted to again bring the Heat this summer. "I'm very pleased to have re-signed for Brisbane Heat for my fourth season with them," he said on Brisbane Heat website.
"I'm very happy there, they're great guys. The fans always support me and the team so I hope we can win the Big Bash for them."
Brisbane Heat head coach Wade Seccombe said Mujeeb continued to improve his game.
"He was in the Northern Superchargers team that Darren Lehmann was coaching in The Hundred (in England) earlier this month, and Darren has reported back to us that he keeps getting better each time he sees him," Seccombe said.
"It's exciting for us to have him in the line-up again. It makes a big difference to how we match-up with other teams, and his skills and controls enable other players in our squad to come to the fore as well."
"It was notable how Mitch Swepson and Matt Kuhnemann enjoyed working with him last season so we're looking forward to him arriving closer to the tournament and getting ready to go," Seccombe said.
Despite COVID-19 restrictions preventing Afghanistan from playing T20 Internationals for much of the year, Mujeeb is still ranked in the top five of the ICC's T20 player rankings.
He played seven matches in The Hundred recently, claiming six wickets at an economy rate of 7.24, and brought up his 150th career T20 game in the process. Career-wise, he has snared 165 T20 wickets at an economy of 6.73 and an average of 23.06.
In his first BBL season, he achieved the competition's best economy rate at 6.04 and was named the Brisbane Heat's Player of the Season.
The Heat squad: Chris Lynn, Tom Banton, Xavier Bartlett, Sam Heazlett, Jimmy Peirson, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Matt Willans, Tom Cooper, Michael Neser, Marnus Labuschagne and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.