14 August 2024, National: Royals Sports Group-owned franchise Paarl Royals on Wednesday announced the addition of Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman to their squad for Season 3 of SA20, which completes the list of retained and pre-signed players as we head into the SA20 2025 Auction. 23-year-old Rahman, who was last seen representing his national team at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA, becomes the final overseas signing announced by the franchise, having already added the English trio of Joe Root, Jacob Bethell and Sam Hain, and India's Dinesh Karthik. The team has also retained 23-year-old England pacer John Turner who showed great potential last season.
Mujeeb, who, at a young age, has a wealth of experience under his belt, has played over a hundred international matches and picked up 161 wickets across formats. He has also become a familiar name on the T20 circuit with his variety and execution, having played 241 T20s in which he has accumulated 257 wickets at an impressive economy of 6.76. He has played for a number of T20 franchises across the world including Paarl Royals' sister franchise Barbados Royals in the CPL, and will be adding SA20 to his list when he takes the field in Season 3. In the 2022 season of the CPL, Mujeeb shined for the Barbados Royals with 10 wickets in 7 matches at a meagre economy of 6.11 and a strike rate of 15.60.
Royals' Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara welcomed the Afghan star to the franchise, "Mujeeb is an impressive young man who has performed in the best leagues around the world. He has the ability to deceive batters with his variety and pick up crucial wickets, and as his stats state, he can be very economical as well. He adds a lot of depth and variety to our spin bowling department, and we are all very excited to have him make a real impact at the Paarl Royals."
The final list of retained and pre-signed players is below -
1. David Miller
2. Lungi Ngidi
3. Dinesh Karthik
4. Joe Root
5. Bjorn Fortuin
6. Andile Phehlukwayo
7. Mitchell van Buuren
8. Mujeeb Ur Rahman
9. Codi Yusuf
10. John Turner
11. Jacob Bethell
12. Sam Hain
13. Keith Dudgeon
14. Nqaba Peter
15. Kwena Maphaka
16. Lhuan-dre Pretorius
17. Dayyaan Galiem