Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have added KL Rahul and Parvez Rasool into their squad ahead of the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The duo were previously with SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).
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Both Rahul and Rasool, despite having received limited game time in the IPL over the years, have played international cricket for the Indian team. While the latter played 1 ODI for the Men in Blue in 2014, the former has represented India in 5 Tests and has 2 Test centuries to his name.
Rasool has played for two IPL franchises previously – Pune Warriors India and SRH. The Jammu and Kashmir captain has been one of the top all-rounders in Indian domestic cricket over the last few years and yet has played only 7 IPL matches over 3 seasons, playing up 3 wickets. He will be hopeful of getting more opportunities this season.
Rahul, on the other hand, adds more strength to an already top-heavy batting line-up that RCB possess. It will be a sought of homecoming for the Bangalore-born opening batsman who represents Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy and previously played for RCB in 2013.
The 23-year-old will want to improve his IPL record, though, as he has scored just 328 runs from 25 matches at a lowly strike-rate of 107.18. With Chris Gayle, Shane Watson, Virat Kohli, and AB de Villiers expected to occupy the top four slots, it’ll be interesting to see where RCB fit Rahul into their team.
Speaking about the new signings, team owner Vijay Mallya said: “Given his multiple skills, KL Rahul has a lot to offer RCB in terms of batting and wicket keeping. It’s a good feeling to get a prominent local Karnataka boy back home and in the RCB fold again.
“Parvez offers us a spinning all rounder option that we were targeting to compliment Chahal and Iqbal. I hope to see him continue his good form in this forthcoming IPL season.”
Full squad
Iqbal Abdullah, Sachin Baby, Samuel Badree, Stuart Binny, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Praveen Dubey, Chris Gayle, Travis Head, Akshay Karnewar, Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Vikramjeet Malik, Adam Milne, Harshal Patel, KL Rahul, Parveez Rasool, Kane Richardson, Mandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vikas Tokas, Shane Watson.
Also Read: IPL 2016 Teams and full players list
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