Shabnim Ismail, the South African pacer, won't be a part of the upcoming season of the Women's Big Bash League due to a knee injury. Shabnim played a crucial part in Thunder's victorious campaign last season, which included a player of the match performance in the final. She returned figures of 2 for 12, which included the prize scalp of Melbourne Stars skipper Meg Lanning. "She took a bad knock and unfortunately Shabnim won't be able to play in this season's WBBL competition," said Griffin on Monday (September 27). "It's terrible news because she's been an important member of Sydney Thunder over the last couple of seasons.
"She showed her class in the Final against the Melbourne Stars at North Sydney Oval last year. I'm just as disappointed for her because I know how much she enjoys being a part of Thunder Nation and the WBBL. "Leah Poulton, New South Wales' head of women's cricket, said, "It's a huge loss for Sydney Thunder, and also the WBBL competition. She's a much-loved character in the Thunder team." And that's why, above everything else, we're devastated that Shabnim can't come out because she's an important part of the group. They'll obviously also miss her on the field because she's that x-factor player who's capable of turning a match on its head within an over. That's a huge loss for any team." Sydney Thunder, who recently signed Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, are yet to finalise on a replacement player for Shabnim. The WBBL begins on October 14, following India's ongoing multi-format series against Australia, with the first 20 matches to be played in Tasmania.
