England leg-spinner Adil Rashid is set for his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) stint after being signed by Punjab Kings (PBKS) for the UAE leg of the season. One of the best white-ball spinners in world cricket at present, Rashid has entered the IPL auction on a number of occasions but hasn’t been able to fetch a bid.

The senior spinner has replaced Jhye Richardson. The Australian pacer, who had joined PBKS for Rs 14 crore, had pulled out of the league along with Riley Meredith. Last week, PBKS had signed Australia’s Nathan Ellis.

Rashid, who has played almost every T20 league barring IPL, has 232 wickets in 201 T20s. England’s lead spinner in T20Is, Rashid has dismissed 65 batsmen at the highest level. He recently played for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

Rashid will be joining spinners Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Jalaj Saxena, Harpreet Brar and Fabien Allen in PBKS’ spin department. Given his experience and UAE’s conditions, he can walk into the playing XI straightaway.

PBKS kick off their campaign against Rajasthan Royals on September 21. They will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad (September 25), Mumbai Indians (September 28), Kolkata Knight Riders (October 1), Royal Challengers Bangalore (October 3) and Chennai Super Kings (October 7), respectively.

KL Rahul will be back to lead the side. He was ruled out of the first phase of the season after 7 matches. Mayank Agarwal led PBKS in Rahul’s absence. With 3 wins from 8 matches, PBKS are placed at the 6th spot in the points table.

They will have to win at least 4 to 5 fixtures from the remainder of 6 matches to make it to the playoffs. One of the 3 teams which haven’t won the league despite being part of the tournament since its inception, PBKS last played a playoff fixture in 2014.