Tanvir signs up with Victoria Bushrangers

Melbourne:

Pakistani paceman Sohail Tanvir has replaced Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan as a foreign recruit for Victoria in Australia's domestic Twenty20 competition starting later this month.

Muralitharan was unavailable due to national commitments, making room for Tanvir to join West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo as Victoria's two international signings.

Tanvir was the leading wicket-taker in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, taking 22 wickets at an average of 12.09 for the Rajasthan Royals, including a record 6-14 in a match against Chennai. He played for South Australia last season in the Australian T20 competition.

"I'm very excited with the prospect of playing in front of a 'home' crowd at the great MCG, and representing Victoria in this strong competition," Tanvir said in a statement.

Victoria coach Greg Shipperd said Tanvir would be a good addition to his Bushrangers squad.

"He was the pick of the bowlers in IPL season one but he hasn't been able to play a lot of cricket since then given that the Pakistanis were not involved in IPL season two," Shipperd said. "He'll be a great addition given some of the problems we've had with our bowling depth this year."

Victoria, a semifinalist in the inauguaral Twenty20 Champions League in India earlier this year, opens its Australian T20 campaign against Queensland on Dec. 28.

Other foreign stars in the competition will include aggressive Pakistani strokemaker Shahid Afridi for South Australia and West Indies captain Chris Gayle for Western Australia.

The top two teams in the competition qualify for the T20 Champions League, featuring the top provincial teams from around the world.