South Africa's SA20 league to get underway on January 10
The inaugural edition of Cricket South Africa's SA20 league will kickstart on January 10 next year. The competition will consist of 33 games and runs till February, with all six teams playing each other twice - home and away - followed by semi-finals and finals.
The six participating teams are Mumbai Indians Cape Town, Durban Super Giants, Johannesburg Super Kings, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals and Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
The groups owning the IPL franchises are also the owners of the sides in SA20. Every squad has 17 players - with a maximum of seven overseas cricketers.
On September 19, the first-ever auction of the tournament took place which saw Tristan Stubbs emerging as the most expensive pick with a bid of 9.2 million rand from Sunrisers. On the flip side, senior players like Temba Bavuma and Andile Phehlukwayo went unsold.
Tristan Stubbs has had a whirlwind year and it seems to just keep getting better and better! 👏
#SA20Auction #SA20 https://t.co/bAZKDui7Jj
Super Kings assistant coach Albie Morkel feels the local and international players bought at the auction will deliver quality cricket and expressed his excitement for the tournament to get underway.
As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, the former Proteas all-rounder said:
"The player auction was a huge success for us as Jo'burg Super Kings and for the league itself. There were a lot of quality local and international cricketers picked up and that will certainly produce competitive cricket from the teams …We have already started doing work behind the scenes and can't wait for the action to start come January 10th."
"SA20 is going to have a massive impact on South African cricket" - Robin Peterson
Former spinner Robin Peterson and now MI Cape Town General Manager backed the SA20 league to revolutionize cricket in South Africa and feels that all the players are keen to make it a success. He added:
"The SA20 is going to have a massive impact on South African cricket. It is going to revolutionize the game in our country and if used correctly and to its full potential, it will be an exciting competition. Being on the ground working at domestic level, there is a certain level of excitement from cricketers that there is a league within our own country.
"There's knowing that if they showcase their skills, who knows where it may lead to, be it playing for the Proteas or getting deals around the world."
Mzansi’s @Rassie72’s bid topped the charts for @MICapeTown, spending R3.9m on the batsman.
Check out the top 3 deals for the Cape Town side from the #SA20Auction. https://t.co/W4boyzU5Up
CSA will hope for the SA20 league to be successful as their last home-grown tournament, Mzansi T20 Super League was discontinued after 2019.