Shakib joins Adelaide Strikers

Shakib Al Hasan has signed up with Adelaide Strikers as a replacement player for their injured captain Johan Botha, becoming the first Bangladeshi cricketer in the Big Bash League. He will join the side for Sunday's game against Sydney Sixers in Adelaide.

"While it is disappointing to be missing our captain at this stage of the season, we are lucky to be able to add someone as talented as Al Hasan to our line-up at such short notice," Strikers coach Darren Berry said. "Al Hasan is renowned for being cool under pressure, which is so important in this form of the game.

"He is a left-arm orthodox spinner and left-arm punishing batsman, so he will play a similar role to Botha and will help to maintain the balance in our team. We spoke to him yesterday and he is chomping at the bit to get out here to help Strikers continue our winning form and reclaim our position at the top of the table."

Shakib is currently fourth on the ICC's Twenty20 allrounder rankings. He has 1832 runs at a strike-rate of 127.57 and 148 wickets at an economy-rate of 6.60 from 116 T20 matches.

Botha sustained a thumb injury in Strikers' win over Perth Scorchers on December 31, and is likely to miss two games, with an expected return against Scorchers on January 16 in Perth. Phillip Hughes will act as captain in Botha's absence. "We will continue to monitor Johan's injury over the next week and look forward to him re-joining the team soon," Berry said.

Under the new BBL playing conditions for this season, Botha will be able to resume his place in the squad if he recovers and is fit to play before the end of the tournament.