Michael Clarke, Tamim Iqbal Sign Up For Pune Warriors

Michale Clarke finally bit the IPL bullet and signed up to play for Pune Warriors in the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Clarke had in 2009 opted out of IPL citing the busy Australian season and lack of curiosity about playing an IPL as a reason.

Michale Clarke doesn’t have a great T20 record having scored runs at only 21.21 in 34 T20 internationals at a strike rate of 103. Pune Warriors skipper Sourav Ganguly had said "It is his ability. He also wants to re-start playing Twenty20 cricket.”. Michael Clarke had retired from T20 internationals in January 2011 in order to focus on Test and One-day cricket.

On Thursday, Pune Warriors also signed up Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal to fill up their entire quote of foreign players. "I can gain a lot of experience by playing with greats like Sourav Ganguly and Michael Clarke. I like to talk a lot about cricket so I think I am lucky to be playing with them and look forward to learn new things," Tamim said.

Tamim is the second player from Bangladesh after Shakid Al Hasan this year who has joined the IPL. Both players were star performers in the recently concluded Asia Cup in Dhaka in which they helped Bangladesh reach the finals ahead of much fancied opponents like India and Sri Lanka.