Northants rope in Tabraiz Shamsi as Seekkuge Prasanna cover

South Africa chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi was signed by Northants for a three-match NatWest T20 Blast deal. He is being roped in as a replacement for leg-spinning all-rounder Seekkuge Prasanna, who will busy with international duties. Both are wrist spinner, a type of bowling which is considered as indispensable in T20 cricket these days.

The 27-year old Shamsi recently made his T20 debut for South Africa in the recently concluded 3-match T20 series against England. He went wicketless in the two games but is hailed as a clever T20 bowler. Shamsi is also a part of the IPL since 2016 and represents the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise.

Sri Lanka is set to host Zimbabwe for a 5-match ODI series in July which will keep Prasanna away from the action in England. Shamsi will fill-in for the leg-spinner and will appear in his first game on July 7 against Derbyshire. “He’s a very effective leg-spinner which I believe is crucial in modern T20 cricket,” said coach David Ripley.

Apart from the two T20 games, Shamsi has also played in 5 ODIs for his country picking 7 wickets with an economy rate of below 5 runs an over. The chinaman bowler also appeared in a Test match late last year against Australia in Adelaide. He wasn’t too effective as he could pick just two wickets at the expense of 150 runs in both innings collectively.

Shamsi brings a lot to the table as he is a crafty wrist spinner with a lot of tricks up his sleeves. Playing in England, though for a brief while, will be a great learning curve for the 27-year old. Seekkuge, after playing the Zimbabwe series, will resume playing for Northants.

This will be the fourth edition of the NatWest Blast T20. Northants are the defending champions as they defeated Durham by 4 wickets in the finals last year played at Edgbaston in Birmingham.