The signing of a 33-year-old medium pace bowler from Gloucestershire may have left some IPL fans scratching their heads. However, while he may not have been at the top of every Punjab Kings fan’s wish-list, Howell could still prove to be an inspired signing due to his battery of slower balls and late-innings power-hitting.

What’s his story?

Born in Bordeaux, France, little about Howell’s journey to the IPL is typical. An attacking lower middle-order batter and medium pace bowler with plenty of variations, Howell opened the batting on his first-class debut for Hampshire in 2011 before moving to his current county Gloucestershire in 2012.

Howell is arguably best known for claiming to have developed 50 different varieties of slower balls, and has been heavily influenced by the work of pitchers in baseball – after attending a match between the Miami Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies a decade ago, Howell began to experiment with his bowling, eventually leading to him using the knuckleball. Over the years he has played around with different grips and subtle changes to bemuse batters at home: in 113 T20 Cup matches in England, Howell has taken 131 wickets at an average of 19.44.

Why the call-up now?

The selection of Howell is a gamble by the Punjab Kings. He has never played for England and has played most of his cricket on the county circuit, with most of his overseas franchise experience taking place in the Bangladesh Premier League. But at just 40 lakhs he was one of the cheapest overseas cricketers bought in the IPL auction, and his career record is an impressive one, with an economy rate of 7.16 supplementing 162 wickets at an average of 21.49.

What perhaps has gone in Howell’s favour is his impressive performances in The Hundred last year, where he took 11 wickets at 18.54 as Birmingham Phoenix finished runners-up. Howell is a fine option with the bat too, boasting averages of 35 and 23 in List-A and T20 cricket and can offer some useful runs late in the innings.

An unexpected call

“I wasn’t following the auction at all, I had absolutely no idea how it worked,” Howell told the i. “I only found out (he had been signed) when I started getting a ton of messages from people back home. My phone was just blowing up.

“Then I went online and saw that I had been picked up. I didn’t expect it, I was preparing for pre-season with Gloucestershire and then some four-day cricket.”