CAPE TOWN – Proteas' World No 1 T20 bowler Tabraiz Shamsi has expressed his "excitement" at joining The Oval Invincibles for The Hundred.
Shamsi, who stretched his lead at the summit of the ICC rankings to 72 points on Wednesday, heads straight into the England's new domestic competition after hugely successful tours with the Proteas to the West Indies and Ireland.
The left-arm wrist-spinner has replaced Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane.
"Really honoured to be able to call this iconic stadium (the Oval) my home ground for the next few weeks," Shamsi tweeted.
Really honoured to be able to call this iconic stadium my home ground for the next few weeks
— Tabraiz Shamsi (@shamsi90) July 27, 2021
My team mates are awesome, the competition looks amazing.. excited to get going and try my best for the team pic.twitter.com/YAE7eB6uuC
"My team mates are awesome, the competition looks amazing.. excited to get going and try my best for the team."
The tweet created banter among the South Africans competing in the The Hundred with Proteas Women's team opener Lizelle Lee claiming that Shamsi "would have loved Manchester". Lee plays for the Manchester Originals.
You would have loved Manchester 😁
— Lizelle Lee (@zella15j) July 27, 2021
Shamsi will, though, join up with fellow South African and former Warriors batsman Colin Ingram as well as England internationals Jason Roy, Rory Burns, Sam Billings, the Curran brothers (Sam and Tom), Saqib Mahmood and Reece Topley.
He could potentially also form a devastating spin duet with West Indies mystery spinner Sunil Narine.
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Shamsi will have further South African companionship in London with Proteas Women's captain Dane van Niekerk leading the Invincibles Women's team that also consists of Proteas all-rounder Marizanne Kapp.
Van Niekerk struck an undefeated half-century in the tournament opener to drive her side to victory.
The Invincibles Men's side also won their tournament opener against the Manchester Originals, with Narine delivering an economical spell.
IOL Sport