MUMBAI, Feb 14: Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Rajasthan Royals on Saturday included explosive Australian batsman Rob Quiney in their squad for the second season and also named two other Australians as replacements for Pakistan’s Sohail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal.

Victorian Quiney was on Friday named in Australia’s 12-man Twenty20 squad to take on New Zealand on Sunday.

Quiney’s Victorian team-mate fast bowler Shane Harwood and Queensland all-rounder Lee Carseldine will replace Sohail and Akmal, Rajasthan Royals Director of Coaching Darren Berry said.

“It feels good to have specialists like Quiney, Harwood and Carseldine in our squad this year. Surely we will miss Sohail and Akmal, but having these players in the team is a boon to the squad. Their presence will definitely add more spice and excitement to the matches in which they will be playing,” Berry said.

Left-hander Quiney has been a consistent performer at the top of the order in Twenty20 cricket in Australia this year and made 91 in 57 balls for Victoria against New South Wales in the KFC Big Bash final recently.

Right-arm pacer Harwood, nicknamed ‘Stickers’, has been in the Australian domestic circuit and his match-winning 4-33 against South Australia took Victoria into the Pura Cup finals.

Carseldine, a useful batsman and left-arm medium pacer, was the player of the Twenty20 Series in Australia.—Agencies