Photo Credit: Melbourne Renegades
The Melbourne Renegades have completed their BBL|10 playing roster with the signing of South African batsman Rilee Rossouw.
The 31-year-old has excelled in T20 competitions all over the world including the Pakistan Super League and Bangladesh Premier League where he ranks among the top overseas run scorers of all time.
Rossouw struck an unbeaten 100 off 44 balls in the PSL earlier this year and throughout his T20 career he has averaged 30 at a strike rate of 136.
“The Big Bash has been a high-quality competition for a long time now, so I’m very excited to get the opportunity to play in such a competitive league,” Rossouw said.
“I’ve enjoyed playing in Australian conditions before so I’m looking forward to heading over there and helping the Renegades have a successful season.
“Hopefully towards the back end of the tournament we can play in front of a home crowd in Melbourne because I’ve heard the Renegades have a very passionate supporter base and I’d love to experience that.”
Rossouw will be available for the full BBL season and joins fellow overseas signings Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad and Imran Tahir on the Renegades roster.
Noor Ahmad will play the opening matches of the BBL before Tahir arrives after Christmas.
“Part of our strategy has been to target players who are going to be available for the majority of the season and we’ve been able to secure some genuine wicket-takers and now Rilee who is capable of winning a game off his own bat,” Renegades Coach Michael Klinger said.
“Rilee has been one of the most dominant batsmen in the world in the T20 game in recent seasons.
“He can bat in the top order but he can also bat in the middle and that’s probably where we’ll look to use him initially, where he’ll give us another left hander, plays the pace bowlers well and he’s a fantastic player of spin.
“He’ll combine well with our other batsmen and to have him available for the whole tournament is really exciting.”
The Renegades begin their BBL campaign against Perth Scorchers on December 12 in Hobart.
Renegades squad: Noor Ahmad (AFG), Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Aaron Finch (c), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Josh Lalor, Shaun Marsh, Mohammad Nabi (AFG), James Pattinson, Mitch Perry, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Rilee Rossouw (RSA), Will Sutherland, Imran Tahir (RSA), Beau Webster.
Name of Author: Melbourne Renegades
Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men’s Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, Australia. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League.
