Adelaide Strikers have secured the services of Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf for the upcoming season of the Big Bash League. Rauf joins Strikers after being part of the Melbourne Stars for five seasons, where he played 33 matches and claimed 56 wickets. Rauf joins Adelaide Strikers as one of the three overseas recruits, with the experienced duo of Ben Stokes and Mark Chapman being the other two international signings. Rauf will be available for the Strikers throughout the tournament, giving a major boost to the club's bowling attack.

"The Strikers have a strong squad with world-class players like Ben Stokes, Matt Short (Strikers captain) and Mark Chapman, so I'm really excited about the opportunity to play alongside them," Rauf said in a statement.

Rauf will head back to BBL after having taken an equal career-best 20 wickets last summer. Rauf also shared the tournament’s BKT Golden Arm award with Gurinder Sandhu, presented to the competition's highest wicket-taker in a regular season. Most recently, Rauf was in razing form in Pakistan’s home ODI tri-series, involving England and Sri Lanka, where he registered seven wickets across the five matches, playing a key role in Pakistan's series win. Meanwhile, Strikers' head coach Tim Paine believed that having Rauf and his experience would make a major difference to the team's performance.

"Haris (Rauf) is a proven match-winner who has performed at the highest level in international cricket and franchise competitions around the world. Strikers fans are going to love watching him steam in at Adelaide Oval. He's one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket and has the ability to change a game in an instant," Tim Paine said in a statement.

"He's one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket and has the ability to change a game in an instant. We're thrilled to welcome Haris to Adelaide for the entire tournament."