Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan will line up for Surrey in the 2020 edition of the Vitality T20 Blast after the English county outfit announced his signing on Thursday.

The 21-year-old follows in the footsteps of compatriot Babar Azam who had an outstanding season with the bat for Surrey in the 2019 edition of the T20 competition.

The young leg-spinner has so far made 35 T20I appearances for Pakistan in which he has claimed 46 wickets at an average of 20.06.

It will be the fourth T20 league Shadab will participate in after he previously turned out in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Big Bash League (BBL) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

“I’ve been waiting for this opportunity to play county cricket for a long time and T20 cricket at The Kia Oval is a great place to start,” the Pakistan man said after signing for Surrey.

“I’m honoured to be following in the footsteps of some great Pakistan cricketers and will do my best to make both my new team and the Surrey fans proud,” he added.

“Shadab is one of the most exciting spin bowlers in world cricket and we look forward to seeing him perform for Surrey next year,” Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart said.

The Surrey stint will be Shadab’s first in the English domestic county circuit.