Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have roped in Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani has replacement for their World Test Championship (WTC) final-bound South African pacer Lungi Ngidi. Muzarabani has been roped in for Rs 75 lakh.
Ngidi will be available for RCB for their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru before joining the South Africa camp for all-important final.ย
Muzarabani is currently a part of Zimbabwe's Test squad for one-off four-day Test against Ben Stokes' England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham which will begin on May 22. The Zimbabwean pacer will join RCB camp ahead of their last league stage clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on May 27.ย
Blessing may come in handy as he can hit the deck hard and generate enough bounce from the surface. He may walk into the side ahead of Nuwan Thushara for his ability to trouble batters with bounce.ย
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Muzarabani's T20 numbers
Muzarabani had been earlier been a part of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as their net bowler. From 70 T20Is, he has picked 78 wickets at an average of 21.75. His economy rate is just over seven runs per over. In T20s overall, he has 127 wickets from 114 appearances. He has played 12 Tests and 55 ODIs as well. Against India, he has played six T20Is and claimed seven wickets at an average of 23.71.
The six foot, eight inches tall pacer has had enough experience in franchise cricket. He has 22 wickets in ILT20 for Gulf Giants. He played in Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2023 for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. He has been part of Multan Sultans' Pakistan Super League (PSL) winning squad. His first experience in franchise cricket came in England's Vitality Blast.
RCB into playoffs -
After the double-header Sunday, RCB became one of the three teams that qualified for playoffs. Currently, the Rajat Patidar-led side are placed second on the points table with 17 points to their name after eight wins and one abandoned game out of 12.