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Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi has signed to play for South Australia in the domestic Twenty20 competition in the first sign Australian states are shying away from Sri Lanka’s stars, including Muttiah Muralitharan.
Afridi on Tuesday was confirmed as an overseas player for SA in the competition starting in late December, although he won’t play in the final should the Redbacks make it because of his national commitments.
The Redbacks recruited Afridi because they expect their previous signing, Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis, to be unavailable because of national commitments.
Sri Lanka’s tour of India, which concludes in late December, and an expected tri-series involving those two sides and Bangladesh is likely to prevent Mendis, Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga playing in Australia’s Twenty20 competition.
Muralitharan is currently signed with Victoria and Malinga with Tasmania.
But those states might be forced into looking for other internationals if the tri-series involving Sri Lanka is confirmed to go ahead.
Victorian coach Greg Shipperd said the Bushrangers were waiting for more information before they made a decision on finding a replacement for Muralitharan, but noted the Redbacks had acted in signing Afridi.
“Their intelligence tells them they’re (the Sri Lankan players) unlikely to be available, but our intelligence hasn’t extended that far at this point in time,” Shipperd said.
“We’re waiting to get more information on that, but we’ve got plan B, C and D … we’re scouting a lot of players at the moment.”
Australian states can each sign two international players for the Twenty20 competition, and other stars signed include West Indies duo Chris Gayle (Western Australia) and Dwayne Bravo (Victoria).
Pakistan’s one-day series against Australia in January would prevent Afridi playing for South Australia in the January 23 domestic final.
But SA Cricket Association high performance manager Jamie Cox said the legspinner-batsman would be available for the majority of the tournament.
“He’s a very dynamic player who we think will really satisfy our needs,” Cox said.
Afridi was the player of the tournament in the inaugural Twenty20 world championship in 2007, and also steered his country to their triumph in this year’s edition in England.
He also holds the record for the fastest one-day international century – from 37 balls against Sri Lanka when aged 16 in 1996.
Cox said the Redbacks were negotiating with other un-named internationals, but ruled out England allrounder Andrew Flintoff because of injury concerns.
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