Former champions Melbourne Renegades rope in Rilee Rossouw for BBL 2020/21 season

Melbourne Renegades on Tuesday confirmed the signing of South African batsman Rilee Rossouw for the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). The 31-year-old has excelled in T20 competitions all over the world including the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) where he ranks among the top overseas run scorers of all time.

'I am very excited': Rilee Rossouw 

"The Big Bash has been a high-quality competition for a long time now, so I am very excited to get the opportunity to play in such a competitive league. I have enjoyed playing in Australian conditions before so I am looking forward to heading over there and helping the Renegades have a successful season," Rossouw said in an official release.

'Part of our strategy has been to...'

"Part of our strategy has been to target players who are going to be available for the majority of the season and we've been able to secure some genuine wicket-takers and now Rilee who is capable of winning a game off his own bat," Renegades Coach Michael Klinger said.

"Hopefully towards the back end of the tournament we can play in front of a home crowd in Melbourne because I have heard the Renegades have a very passionate supporter base and I'd love to experience that," he added.

BBL 2020/21 

The 10th edition of the tournament gets underway on 3 December 2020 and will conclude on  6 February 2021. Most of the matches will be D/N fixtures. Sydney Sixers will be defending their title this time around.

Adelaide Strikers will lock horns with the Melbourne Renegades in the curtain-raiser at the Adelaide Oval. Meanwhile, the 2018/19 champions will kickstart their campaign against Perth Scorchers in Hobart on December 12. The Aaron Finch-led side who were the title-holders last season had a forgettable outing as they had to bag the wooden spoon. They finished eighth as the Renegades could only manage to win three of their 14 league games. 

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Rilee Rossouw's international cricketing career

The southpaw had represented the 'Rainbow Nation' in 36 One Day Internationals and 15 T20IS between 2014-2017. He had never featured in the Proteas' Test squad. 

The Bloemfontein-based cricketer went on to sign a Kolpak deal with Hampshire County Cricket Club in January 2017 which made him ineligible to represent South Africa anymore, ending his international career. The middle-order batsman was a part of the South African squad that had finished as the semi-finalists in World Cup 2015. 

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(With ANI Inputs)

(Source: AP)