A legspinner who played ten first-class matches in Pakistan, Fawad Ahmed fled to Australia in 2010 as an asylum seeker. While living in Pakistan’s northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ahmed had been involved with an NGO that aimed, among other things, to educate women, and he said this connection led to threats against him from extremists.
BBL-11 is set to start from 5th December 2021. Defending champions Sydney Sixers will be up against Melbourne Stars in the first game of the season. Teams have started finalizing their squads for the upcoming campaign. It was bit surprising When Perth Scorchers did not offer Fawad Ahmed a new deal. Ahmed was the leading spinner of the Scorchers last season, where he scalped 16 wickets with the ball. It was assumed that the career of the 39-year old veteran spinner is finished. Fawad also expressed his frustration earlier about not getting a new deal with the Perth Scorchers. “I was really, really upset with the way it ended. I was still expecting another year,” Fawad said.” If you take those three (bad) games out of the 17, I think my performance (in BBL|10) was amazing.”
When it was looking like Ahmed might have played his last BBL game, Adelaide Strikers arrived as saviors. The Adelaide Strikers have signed the veteran spinner on a one-year contract. It is a surprising move as they already have two leg-spinners with Rashid Khan and Liam O’Connor. Fawad Ahmed is Adelaide’s last signing of the season, which means they will go in this season with just two overseas. Rashid Khan has been Adelaide’s mainstay, whereas George Garton will be making his BBL debut this season.
This will be Fawad’s fourth BBL club, after Renegades, Thunder, and Scorchers. Ahmed also thanked the Adelaide Strikers for providing him an opportunity.“The ball is coming out really well at the moment and I am thankful to the Strikers for this opportunity,” Fawad said. “Adelaide Oval is a special place to play cricket and the wicket always spins so I’m really looking forward to playing home games there.”
Some of the other BBL players also expressed their frustrations about the same in the past. Chris Green and Ben Dunk went to Twitter and appreciated the veteran leg-spinner.