3 SA20 players who'll want to get in form before IPL 2023
SA20 will begin on the evening of January 10 in Cape Town with a clash between home team MI Cape Town and the Paarl Royals. Four other franchises, namely the Jo'burg Super Kings, SunRisers Eastern Cape, Pretoria Capitals and Durban's Super Giants, will also participate in the SA20.
As the names of the teams suggest, the six franchises of South Africa's new T20 league are owned by the Indian Premier League team owners. Not just the teams, but many IPL stars are also a part of this new competition.
IPL 2023 will begin in March, a month after the inaugural season of South Africa's T20 league culminates. This tournament offers multiple IPL stars an opportunity to gain confidence before the IPL starts.
Several big names are struggling with form at the moment, and the following three players will aim to get back to form before IPL 2023 in SA20.
#1 Faf du Plessis - Captain of Jo'burg Super Kings in SA20
Faf du Plessis will captain the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2023. RCB do not own a franchise in SA20, which allowed du Plessis' former IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings to draft him in the Jo'burg Super Kings squad for the SA20 tournament. The South African will captain the Johannesburg-based franchise.
Since du Plessis is not a part of South Africa's national team, he majorly plays T20 cricket these days. He participated in the Caribbean Premier League last year, while also turning up for the Perth Scorchers in the first phase of the BBL 2022/23.
Faf performed well in the CPL, but his performance in the BBL was not quite up to the mark. The right-handed batter managed only one half-century in seven matches. He failed to touch double digits in three of his last four innings for the Perth Scorches. The RCB skipper will aim to regain his form before the start of IPL 2023.
#2 Kagiso Rabada, MI Cape Town
Kagiso Rabada plays for the Punjab Kings in the IPL. Even the Punjab-based franchise does not have a team in SA20 2023. Rabada will play for the MI Cape Town team in South Africa's new league.
The right-arm pacer has struggled to perform well in the shortest format of the game of late. He had a forgettable T20 World Cup campaign, where he remained wicketless in the majority of the matches. Rabada's best figures were 1/24 against Bangladesh.
Having received an opportunity to play in a T20 league on home soil before IPL 2023, Rabada will look to take maximum advantage of it.
#3 Tristan Stubbs, SunRisers Eastern Cape
Tristan Stubbs plays for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, but will don the SunRisers Eastern Cape jersey in SA20 2023. Stubbs was the most expensive signing at the inaugural player auction of South Africa's new league.
The young wicket-keeper has not had the best run in T20 cricket of late as he managed only 31 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 100 during the T20 World Cup. It will be interesting to see how he performs in the upcoming tournaments.