WBBL 2022: Brisbane Heat sign Pooja Vastrakar; Lizelle Lee moves to Hobart Hurricanes

India all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar and former South African batter Lizelle Lee have been signed by the Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes respectively, for the Women’s Big Bash League 2022 edition. This will be the first-ever outing for Vastrakar, as she has not participated in any franchise-based game except for the Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy.

Lee, on the other hand, will join a new team this season, which will be her third team in just four years. She has previously represented the Melbourne Stars for three years and the Melbourne Renegades for the 2020-21 edition of the tournament.

With 1361 runs at a strike rate of 124.86 in 53 matches and two centuries, the 30-year-old has an outstanding WBBL record. In addition to discussions with Hurricanes coach Salliann Briggs, Lee said that her close acquaintance and former South African and Stars counterpart Mignon du Preez was the driving force for her decision to join the squad.

“My good friend and South African teammate, Mignon, said she really enjoyed her time in the Hurricanes environment last season. So that, on top of the great conversations I’ve had with Sall and the team, I can’t wait to get stuck in and see what it’s like for myself this year,” Lee said.

Lee announced her international retirement earlier this month after the one-off Test against England. Her move brought instability to the South African squad, but the prolific batter had mentioned that she would continue to participate in league-based tournaments.

Vastrakar certainly a player of the future for India: Heat coach Ashley Noffke

Vastrakar is the most recent Indian cricketer to sign with a WBBL team. Vastrakar grabbed eyeballs with incredible performances with both bat and ball in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year, as she ended as the joint-second highest wicket-taker for India. Her performances during India’s tour of Australia in 2021 were impressive as well.

“Pooja is an outstanding athlete. She bowls with sharp pace, can find the boundary with the bat down the order and is an absolute jet in the field. We’re very pleased to welcome her to the WBBL and are excited about the experience we can offer her. She’s certainly a player of the future for India and one that we expect can make a difference for the Heat this summer,” Heat coach Ashley Noffke said.

Vastrakar is a part of India’s Commonwealth Games squad but faced a major blow after returning a positive result for Covid-19. As a result, she had to stay back in India while the team traveled to Birmingham.