CHANCES are you won’t see Rashid Khan in the next Big Bash League, but the fact he’s caught the eye of South Australia’s high performance manager Tim Nielsen is remarkable.

Khan is only 17 years old and has played 14 Twenty20s at the men’s level. All 14 of those matches have been for Afghanistan.

Last month, he finished second on the wicket-taking list for the World Twenty20 (11 at 16.63), with five of his wickets coming in the Super 10 stage against England, the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

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Afghanistan's Rashid Khan (right) took 11 wickets at the World Twenty20. Source: AFP

The Adelaide Strikers already have their two permitted international players on contract for BBL 06, with Kieron Pollard and Adil Rashid both signed up. But with England pencilled in for a tour of India from mid-November to the end of January, it’s unlikely Rashid will be available.

With that in mind the Strikers kept their eyes open for spinners at the World T20, and will continue scouting the T20 circuit throughout the year.

“If Rashid is out for us on international duties, the spinners are interesting. There’s a lad from Afghanistan (Rashid Khan) that bowled quite nicely (at the World T20),” Nielsen told foxsports.com.au.

However, while Nielsen was impressed by Khan it would be a surprise to see him in a Strikers jersey this summer as the former Australia coach is unsure success in India will translate to success on these shores.

“The biggest challenge with those sorts of players is just their lack of consistent international exposure, so you just don’t know how they’re going to go from week to week,” he said.

“The pitches certainly suited the spinners over there during the World Twenty20 a lot of the time, and if you come to Australia with a lack of international competition then get onto good hard wickets over here, it sometimes can be a big ask.”

Adil Rashid may not be available to play for the Adelaide Strikers in the next BBL. Source: News Corp Australia

With Rashid’s availability next summer unlikely – Neilsen can’t see him being left out of any of England’s three squads – Adelaides’s plans for next season are in limbo. The next few months of domestic T20 cricket around the world could play a major role.

“Sometimes there are international players that fly under the radar a little bit until they get to an IPL (Indian Premier League) opportunity, then they go gangbusters and they jump up in to your thinking.

“There’s the Caribbean Premier League as well in June. There’s a few tournaments that’ll take place in the next few months that will probably help us with our decision making as we move forward.”

Neilsen stressed that if Rashid is unavailable the Strikers will not necessarily replace him with a spinner; with the form and fitness of its domestic players key to their plans.

Meanwhile, the Sydney Sixers are also weighing up their international options.

The Sixers have Johan Botha tied up on a long-term deal, but the club’s BBL 05 player of the season, Michael Lumb, is off contract.

Lumb remains on the list of international players the Sixers are looking at.

“He’s definitely in the mix at the moment having been player of the year last season,” Sydney Sixers general manager Dominic Redmond told foxsports.com.au, “there’s a few bits of the jigsaw that haven’t fallen into the place, but as our best performing player he’s high on the agenda.”

A number of players caught Redmond’s eye at the World T20, including a long-time rival of Sydney Thunder skipper Shane Watson.

“Wahab Riaz looked pretty good, and Umar Akmal played very well. They actually had some good success in the Pakistan Super League recently.”

Wahab Riaz (right) impressed the Sydney Sixers at the World Twenty20. Source: News Corp Australia

However, they may not be available as Pakistan is pencilled in for three Tests and six one-day internationals in Australia from late November to early January.

One man who should be available is Carlos Brathwaite. The West Indies have no cricket scheduled between early-November and late-February, making players like Brathwaite and Jason Holder attractive prospects for the Sixers.

“Obviously Carlos Brathwaite had a great end to the World T20. He bowled well and obviously anyone who can clear the boundary in the last over four times has got to be worth consideration.

“Carlos plays that role where he can hit the ball a mile and he’s pretty useful with his bowling. Talented all-rounders in the T20 format are high on anyone’s sort of wish list. He was certainly one that we’d spoken about internally (before the World T20).”