Cricket News By TODAYLIVESCORE.INFO - Brisbane Heat sign Poonam Yadav. Poonam Yadav is the eighth Indian cricketer to be signed for WBBL 2021
Poonam Yadav is the eighth Indian cricketer to be signed for WBBL 2021
Brisbane Heat have picked Indian legspinner, Poonam Yadav, as the third overseas player for the upcoming season of the Women's Big Bash League. She will join South Africa's all-round duo of Anne Bosch and Nadine de Klerk in the side captained by Jess Jonassen.
The 30-year-old is the eighth Indian player to be signed for the 2021 edition of the tournament, which is set to be her maiden participation in a T20 league. She fills in the void left by New Zealand leggie Amilia Kerr, who has withdrawn from this year's tournament due to personal reasons.
With Poonam's signing, all the squads have been filled up, with Heat making four changes to their squad 15 that reached the semifinal of the tournament last season.
Ashley Noffke, the Brisbane Heat head coach, said, “We know there is a lot of upside to Poonam coming on board this summer. When we lost Amelia Kerr, we were confident we could back our group to give a good account of themselves regardless. But adding Poonam's skill and her competitiveness is a huge result.”
“She is a different type of bowler to Melie, and we are clear on how we can best utilise her talents in our line-up. Jess Jonassen has played against her and as captain, she is very keen to work alongside her now she is with the Heat.”
Noffke expects the experienced spinner to also play the role of a mentor to the younger players in the team. “We're really keen for her to share those insights with our players during the tournament and will urge the group to learn as much as they can,” he said.
Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma (Sydney Thunder), Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav (Sydney Sixers), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (Melbourne Renegades), and Richa Ghosh (Hobart Hurricanes) are the other Indians set to play in the seventh edition of the WBBL.
