London, Dec 17 (IANS): Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi will join Northamptonshire for the 2021 edition of the T20 Blast competition.

Subject to approval by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), Nabi will remain with Northamptonshire for the entirety of the 2021 Blast group stages, as well as being available for the quarter-final following his stint with the London Spirit in The Hundred.

"I've always enjoyed playing the Vitality Blast in England and it will be exciting to play at Northamptonshire." Nabi said in a statement.

"Hopefully we can do well," he added.

Nabi currently sits atop the ICC rankings as the world's number one T20 all-rounder and head coach David Ripley was looking forward to having that kind of international quality in his side.

"We're delighted to welcome such a high profile T20 player as Mohammad Nabi to the club." Ripley said.

"He has a wealth of experience from playing in so many global tournaments around the world and can completely turn a game with both bat and ball," he added.

With 4,118 runs at a strike rate of over 140 and 267 wickets to his name in T20 cricket, it's clear why Steelbacks skipper Josh Cobb was so keen to recruit the Afghanistan international for next year's competition.

"We've looked at our middle order as a bit of priority for us, so Nabi was the perfect choice with his power and experience. Along with bringing in Tom (Taylor) last year we're now looking pretty strong in that area. They're both three-dimensional players, so they help balance us up a bit and give us plenty of options on the day," said Cobb.

"Nabi's a crafty bowler too and has the ability to bowl at any stage during the innings, hopefully that'll mean less powerplay bowling for me," he added.