The 25 year old Pakistani skipper, Babar Azam is set to play for Somerset in the final seven group matches and knockout stage should the team qualify.

The best ranked T20 batsmen in the world played for the English club last year as well as his performance in the English T20 blast resulted in the club offering a place in the playing 11 this year.

Babar, who is currently captaining Pakistan in their T20 series against England, had agreed to return to the southwest club Somerset.

Covid-19 has seen several counties cancel deals with international players, however Babar will be back at the club’s base at Taunton.

“For obvious reasons, this year has been very different from what we were all expecting, and I fully appreciate the chalenges the game has faced globally as well as here in England. We have all had to adapt and I’m just really pleased that we could find a way to make this happen. I hope that I can help to contribute to success on the field for Somerset again” said Babar.

In his first season for the county, Babar totaled 578 runs at an average of 52.54 with a strike rate of 149.35 which had impressed the counties coaches and senior officials.

“He is a great player, is so easy on the eye and fitted brilliantly into our environment last year. We consider Babar to be one of our own.” said Somerset director of cricket Andy Hurry.