Melbourne Renegades sign Mohammad Nabi, Pollard for Big Bash League 2017-18

Mohammad Nabi and Kieron Pollard will feature for Melbourne Renegades in the last leg of the Big Bash League 2017-18 season.

Melbourne Renegades announced two massive signings on Friday with the side roping in the services of Afghanistan spinner Mohammad Nabi and West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard for the upcoming season of the Big Bash League (BBL).

Mohammad Nabi became the second Afghan cricketer to play in Big Bash League as he signed for Melbourne Renegades. (Getty Images)

Nabi was brought in as a replacement for West Indies international Sunil Narine after the mystery spinner opted to skip the tournament citing personal reasons. As a result, he became the second player from Afghanistan to debut in the Big Bash League after Adelaide Strikers had announced back in September that Rashid Khan would feature for them in the league.

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However, Nabi won’t be featuring throughout the tournament with the franchise set to replace him with Pollard towards the last leg of the season. While Afghanistan is one of the newest countries to be welcomed by the ICC in the Test fold, Nabi has made rapid strides and is currently ranked No 3 in the T20 format of the game. According to reports, Nabi will be available with the franchise for the first seven matches while Pollard will take part in the final three. This will be the latter’s fifth stint with the BBL.

Among other off-season signings for the Renegades, veteran Brad Hodge and West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo will also join the side.

“Everyone speaks very highly of his game,” Aaron Finch was quoted as saying for Nabi, who has earned praise across the globe for his wily off-spinners. “(He) can smack them with the bat, so good all-round package.”

The Renegades had finished fifth on the table last year after notching up five wins and an equal number of losses against their name.