Pakistan pacer Sohail Tanvir will replace Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan as one of the two foreign recruits in Australian state side Victoria Bushrangers for the upcoming KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.
"The 24-year-old Tanvir joins the West Indies' Dwayne Bravo as the two international signings for the tournament, following the withdrawal of the Sri Lankan spin king, who has scheduling conflicts," read a Victoria Bushrangers statement.
The left-arm paceman 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.
Tanvir, who played for the West End Redbacks in last season's KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, said he is excited at the prospect of playing for Victoria this year.
"I'm very excited by the prospect of playing in front of a 'home' crowd at the great MCG, and representing Victoria in this strong competition," Tanvir said.
"The Bushrangers have a solid record in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash so it's a great honour, and I look forward to playing my part in the team and contributing to some entertaining and successful cricket.
"With so many good players in this year's tournament -- both locally and from overseas -- I'm sure it's going to be a great experience," he added.
Bushrangers coach Greg Shipperd said Tanvir's induction will add depth to the team's bowling.
"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 with Nannes still injured and yet to take part in the season, and with Harwood being injured we felt that we needed to bolster out bowling stocks," he added.
The Bushrangers's opening match of the series is against Queensland at the Gabba on December 28.
