Since each team must have two players under the age of 23, team finances for the auction are also a hot topic. As before, teams will be considering youthful talent. (Image Credit: ANI)
The player auction for South Africa’s marquee T20 league, the SA20, is creating a feverish excitement to culminate on September 9th in Johannesburg. Over 800 players registered, an unprecedented number in the tournament’s four year history, with the final shortlisted pool being on 541 players, 300 South Africans and 241 overseas players.
Leading the domestic contingent are Proteas captain Aiden Markgraan and a number of the players who appeared in the ICC T20 World Cup Final including Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Reeza Hendricks, Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee. Other visitors who have played Test cricket on a regular basis include Lungi Ngidi, Kyle Verreynne, Wiaan Mulder, David Bedingham, Tony de Zorzi and Dane Paterson.
From abroad, big names include the Bangladesh great Shakib Al Hasan are joined by Mustafizur Rahman while England’s bowling legend James Anderson and T20 champions Alex Hales and Moeen Ali can also boast of notoriety on the global stage. The pool is also seeing D’Arcy Short (Australia) and Devon Conway (New Zealand). Not mentioned on the final list of players are any Indian players, although there were around 13 that registered, names like Piyush Chawla and Siddharth Kaul didn’t make the final 541.
Franchises will vie for filling 84 open slots with a US $7.37 million total purse, with a squad structure that requires 19 players per team, 9 South Africans, a maximum of 7 overseas players, 2 Under 23 SA players, and 1 wildcard. There is added flavour to the experience in Season 4, with every franchise required to select two Under 23 players, allowing the likes of Dewald Brevis, Kwena Maphaka, and Andile Simelane to generate interest among franchises.
The six franchises competing, Pretoria Capitals, Durban’s Super Giants, Joburg Super Kings, Sunrisers Eastern Cape, Paarl Royals, and last year’s champions MI Cape Town will enter the auction with different budgets. Currently, the Pretoria Capitals have the most money to spend (US $1.86 million) and MI Cape Town have the least (US $0.65 million). With a bidding frenzy on the verge of exploding and strategies brewing in the background, the SA20 Season 4 auction will shake things up for franchises and let audiences envision the next big star in T20 cricket.
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