West of Scotland have signed kiwi batsman Laxman Popli ahead of their WDCU Premier Division campaign.

Popli (26) has been a consistent run-scorer in New Zealand club cricket for over a decade across 3 different regions, namely Northern Districts, Otago and Auckland. Popli is an opening batsman of some pedigree.

A product Tauranga Boy’s College, where he played alongside Blackcaps star Kane Williamson and vice skippered the 1st XI to the Gillette Cup (National Secondary School Champions).

Brother of Bharat Popli, who plays for the Northern Knights, the elder sibling has played age-group representative cricket for both the Bay of Plenty and Northern Districts.

He has since represented the Bay of Plenty, Poverty Bay and most recently Waikato Valley Senior Men’s sides in the Fergus Hickey Trophy.

During his tenure in the deep south, Popli also featured for Otago playing Indoor Cricket and struck two centuries in Dunedin club cricket for University Grange.

He has since played Premier club cricket in Auckland and in 2012/13 struck successive centuries against Cornwall (100) and Parnell (112). He was subsequently awarded his club’s (Papatoetoe) “batsman” and “fielder” of the year.

He is now playing the current 2014/15 season with Morrinsville in the Waikato region club competition and for Waikato Valley in the Fergus Hickey Trophy.

Popli will play his first summer abroad in 2015 and is hoping to make a big impression in the Scottish top flight club competition.