Thunder turn to Qadir to bring 'extra sting'

Sydney Thunder have added Pakistan leg-spinner Usman Qadir to provide 'extra sting' to their bowling for KFC BBL|12, with the 29-year-old covering the loss of homegrown spinner Tanveer Sangha,

Sangha, who has toured with the Australian T20 team but remains uncapped, has had the start to his season delayed by a stress-related injury in his back.

Qadir, who is the son of Pakistan bowling legend Abdul Qadir, is the fourth international the Thunder will have available for the start of BBL|12 along with draft picks Alex Hales and Rilee Rossouw and the Afghan left-arm speedster Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Teams can play three internationals in their XI, but may have up to seven overseas players on their list for the season.

Qadir is no stranger to Australian conditions: He played in the 2012 U19 World Cup in Queensland, and went on to play grade cricket in Sydney and Adelaide, before he later suited up for both WA and the Perth Scorchers for the 2018-19 season.

Once intending to claim Australian citizenship and forge an international career that way, he impressed in a PM's XI one-day fixture against South Africa in 2018, taking 3-28.

He later returned to Pakistan and abandoned his Australian ambitions at his father's urging, and a call-up for Pakistan followed – coincidentally for a tour of Australia. He has since played 23 T20s for Pakistan and a solitary ODI, although a thumb injury kept him sidelined as a reserve during the recent T20 World Cup.

"My ambition was to play for Australia before. I said to my father I did not get any chances to play in Pakistan. I wanted to go to Australia and wanted to make a career over there," Qadir explained to cricket.com.au in October 2019.

"My father said, 'My wish is for (you) to play for Pakistan, for your own country. If you want to go there (to Australia), you can – it's your own decision. But my dream is for you to play for Pakistan.'

"The PCB put my name in for the national T20 (domestic tournament). I played four games there, I did not take lots of wickets, but the selectors really liked me and said, 'We're going to pick you'. I said, 'Okay that's fine'."

Qadir's season with the Scorchers coincided with a rare wooden spoon for the team. In seven games during BBL|08 the then 26-year-old took six wickets with an economy of 8.45, was dropped from the team, then left the club embarrassed when he was caught driving 45kph over the speed limit around the WACA and had his sponsor-provided car seized by police.

Thunder chief Andrew Gilchrist said Qadir would provide the bowling with 'experience' and 'sting'.

"Usman joins us with plenty of experience, having represented Pakistan, and playing in T20 leagues around the world," Gilchrist said.

"Importantly, he has firsthand knowledge of Australian conditions, he played for Western Australia and South Australia's Futures League [2012-13], so he knows what to expect.

"He's also made it clear that he is proud his father re-invented the googly; I have read that he feels as though he's its 'custodian'. I hope he drives our opponents mad with his googly and other tricks this summer –it will provide extra sting to our attack."