Afghanistan allrounder Mohammad Nabi will return as one of Melbourne Renegades' overseas players for the BBL.

Nabi, who is the No.1-ranked T20I allrounder, has been part of three previous campaigns for the Renegades: in 27 matches he has scored 476 runs at a strike-rate of 130.76 and has taken 21 wickets with an economy rate of 7.17.

He is the second signing for the Renegades in recent days following the return of James Pattinson from the Brisbane Heat. They have lost Dan Christian (Sydney Sixers), Tom Cooper and Jack Wildermuth (both Brisbane Heat) as they look to rebuild the squad having finished bottom last season following the title-winning 2018-19 season.

Nabi is also the first overseas player from outside of England to be confirmed for this year's BBL. ESPNcricinfo revealed earlier this week that teams will be able to have three overseas players in their XI instead of the previous two.

"Nabi's versatility makes him a very valuable member of our team. He can bat and bowl in a number of different situations and he reads the game so well," Renegades coach Michael Klinger said. "We'll again be looking for Nabi to play a key role in our middle order and he'll be called upon to bowl some important overs."

Current Renegades squad: Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Aaron Finch (capt), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Shaun Marsh, Mohammad Nabi, James Pattinson, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland, Beau Webster.