14 August 2024, National: The Afghan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has joined the Paarl Royals for Season 3 of SA20. This completes the list of players who have been retained and pre-signed ahead of the SA20 2025 Auction. The Paarl Royals are owned by the Royals Sports Group.
The franchise has previously announced the addition of Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, and Sam Hain from England, as well as Dinesh Karthik from India. Rahman, 23, who was last seen playing for his country during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA, is the final overseas acquisition. John Turner, an England pacer of 23 who had a lot of promise the previous season, has also been kept on by the club.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who has a lot of experience under his belt despite his youth, has participated in over 100 international matches and taken 161 wickets in various forms.
Due to his versatility and skill, he has also gained recognition on the T20 scene. In 241 T20 matches, he has taken 257 wickets at a 6.76 economy rate.
He has represented several T20 teams throughout the globe, including as the CPL’s Paarl Royals’ sister team, the Barbados Royals, and he will be adding SA20 when he plays in Season 3. With 10 wickets in 7 matches during the 2022 CPL season, Mujeeb was a standout player for the Barbados Royals, despite his low economy of 6.11 and strike rate of 15.60.
“Mujeeb is an impressive young man who has performed in the best leagues around the world,” said Kumar Sangakkara, Director of Cricket for the Royals, while welcoming the Afghan star to the team. As his figures show, he can be highly frugal as well as fool batsmen with his variation to pick up vital wickets.
Also Read: SA20 2025: Azmatullah Omarzai and Ben Stokes join MI Cape Town
We are all thrilled to have him make a significant contribution to the Paarl Royals as he brings a great deal of depth and variety to our spin bowling department.”
The final list of retained and pre-signed players is below –
2. Lungi Ngidi
4. Joe Root
5. Bjorn Fortuin
6. Andile Phehlukwayo
7. Mitchell van Buuren
8. Mujeeb Ur Rahman
9. Codi Yusuf
11. Jacob Bethell
12. Sam Hain
13. Keith Dudgeon
14. Nqaba Peter
15. Kwena Maphaka
16. Lhuan-dre Pretorius
17. Dayyaan Galiem