SA20 Auction: Big names join SA20 as blockbuster auction looms

OVER the past three seasons, the SA20 has grown in leaps and bounds, and the upcoming fourth edition promises to be even bigger with some of the biggest names in franchise T20 cricket having committed to the league already. 

This season, the SA20 barely clashes with any T20 leagues, meaning the world's top T20 cricketers are available to grace the South African cricket with their presence and skills. 

Among the players who have been pre-signed for the upcoming season are West Indies all-rounders Andre Russell (Pretoria Capitals) and Sunil Narine (Durban's Super Giants), both who have sparkling T20 careers. 

Allah Ghazanfar, the latest addition to the long list of Afghanistan's mystery spinners, also joins the SA20 for the first time. He has signed with last season's runners-up Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC). 

The defending Champions, MI Cape Town, have added Nicholas Pooran to their squad, roping in the left-handed batter from the Durban's Super Giants. 

Proteas stars Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, George Linde and Corbin Bosch, along with former New Zealand quick Trent Boult, have kept their spots in the Newlands-based side. 

In other exciting news, heading into the auction, the two-time SA20-winning captain Aiden Markram has opted to enter the lucrative auction, opting not to take the pre-signing offer that the Sunrisers offered. 

Markram led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) to three consecutive SA20 finals, winning the first two editions before going down to MI Cape Town in the previous edition of the competition.

The 30-year-old heads into the auction with the chance to play for a different franchise in the fourth edition of the tournament after his heroics for the 'Orange Army'.

However, with the SA20 having introduced the Right to Match strategy this season, the Sunrisers Eastern Cape could retain the Proteas T20I captain by matching the winning bid.

The Season 4 Auction is set to be a blockbuster event after the six franchises laid down an early squad marker with the announcement of the pre-signed and retained players for the upcoming SA20 campaign.   

Each of the teams were permitted a maximum of six retained or pre-signed players, comprising of a maximum of three South African and three overseas players during the player retention window, which closed on July 18.

The teams also strategically completed their six Wildcard signings, with all the focus now on the remaining slots and the collective maximum purse of R131 million to be spent on the 84 available slots at the auction on September 9 in Johannesburg.

For Season 4, a wildcard player could be any overseas player or a South African player who was part of the team’s squad in Season 3. 

A complete list of players and remaining salary cap follows:


Durban’s Super Giants (R29.5 million) *Sunil Narine, *Noor Ahmad, *Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen (Wildcard)

Joburg Super Kings (R21.5 million) Faf du Plessis, *James Vince, *Akeal Hosein, *Richard Gleeson, Donovan Ferreira (Wildcard)

MI Cape Town (R11.5 million) Ryan Rickelton, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, *Rashid Khan, *Trent Boult, *Nicholas Pooran, Kagiso Rabada (Wildcard)

Paarl Royals (R14.5 million) Lhuan-dre Pretorius, David Miller, Bjorn Fortuin, *Mujeeb Ur Rahman, *Sikandar Raza, Rubin Hermann (Wildcard)

Pretoria Capitals (R32.5 million) *Will Jacks, *Sherfane Rutherford, *Andre Russell (Wildcard)

Sunrisers Eastern Cape (R21.5 million) Tristan Stubbs, *Allah Ghazanfar, *Adam Milne, *Jonny Bairstow, Marco Jansen (Wildcard)

*Indicates overseas players.