Adelaide Strikers have signed Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf, 32, for the full KFC BBL|16 season, ending his long-standing association with the Melbourne Stars, for whom he played 33 Big Bash matches since 2019.
Strikers head coach Tim Paine, confirming the signing, said Rauf was "one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket" and described him as a "proven match-winner".
Rauf arrives in Adelaide on the back of a standout BBL|15 campaign, in which he took 20 wickets to equal his own career-best tally for a single Big Bash season. His return was good enough to earn him a share of the competition's BKT Golden Arm award, given each year to the leading wicket-taker across the regular season.
Rauf has also taken a Big Bash hat-trick during his time in the competition, and has been named in a BBL team of the tournament, the honour reserved for the competition's best performers in a given season.
Rauf has produced results outside Australia too. This year alone, he took 22 wickets in 19 Twenty20 matches combined across the Pakistan Super League, where he played for Lahore Qalandars, and Major League Cricket, where he turned out for the San Francisco Unicorns.
On the international stage, Rauf is Pakistan's second-highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 international cricket, with 133 wickets to his name.
He also played a part in Pakistan's one-day international series win in Australia in 2024, a tour that included bowling figures of 5-29 at Adelaide Oval, the ground his new club calls home.
For his part, Rauf said he was looking forward to playing alongside the Strikers squad's established names.
His arrival completes Adelaide's quota of three overseas players permitted under Big Bash rules for the coming season. The other two overseas spots belong to Ben Stokes and Mark Chapman.
With Rauf's signing, Adelaide have now filled 13 of their 18 squad positions for BBL|16.
Rauf is expected to make his Strikers debut on December 16 against the Sydney Thunder, in Canberra.