Pietersen, McCullum and Gayle among marquee players for Global Destination League
Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle are among eight international marquee players who have agreed to play in the new #T20 Global Destination League, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed.
CSA announced plans in February for the new Twenty20 league that it hopes will compete with other lucrative competitions like the IPL and the Big Bash League.
Those ambitions are sure to be boosted by the announcement that some of cricket's biggest names have signed up to take part, with Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga, Eoin Morgan, Kieron Pollard and Jason Roy joining McCullum, Gayle and Pietersen in committing to play.
The eight players are to be involved in a "mini-draft" with franchise owners bidding for the right to take first pick.
CSA also said in a statement that each team will be allocated a South Africa marquee player.
#CSAnews CSA announce international marquee players for the new #T20 Global Destination League https://t.co/HzvGTbz22n pic.twitter.com/NqOskyqqN7
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) April 13, 2017
Pietersen, who has largely become a T20 specialist since his acrimonious sacking from England in 2014, is excited to be taking part in the country of his birth.
"I am delighted to have signed for the new Global Destination T20 tournament in South Africa," he said.
"South Africa, as everyone knows, is very close to my heart, so being a part of something innovative in their cricketing structure really excites me."
Former New Zealand captain McCullum added: "I very much enjoy the conditions in South Africa and it was an easy decision to make myself available for this tournament."
West Indies star Gayle is one the most prolific players in T20s having scored 9,975 runs in 288 matches in the format.
"I look forward to returning to South Africa as I have very happy memories of my time there," he said.
"This included scoring the first ever century in T20 International cricket when the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 was held in South Africa in 2007."
The league is set to begin towards the end of 2017.