Daijiworld Media Network - Cape Town
Cape Town, Oct 8: The SA20 Season 5 auction is set to witness significant squad changes, with Kieron Pollard and Trent Boult among the notable players not retained by MI Cape Town, while Joburg Super Kings enter the auction with the largest remaining purse.
Four franchises have 19 squad positions to fill ahead of the auction after the salary cap was increased to USD 2.54 million. Joburg Super Kings have the biggest remaining purse at USD 1.245 million, followed by MI Cape Town with USD 565,150. Sunrisers Eastern Cape have USD 217,600 available, while Pretoria Capitals have USD 89,150.
Durban’s Super Giants and Paarl Royals have already completed their squad-building process. South African presenter Dan Nicholl will conduct the auction for the first time.
Across the previous five auctions, franchises have spent a combined USD 70.75 million on players. Pretoria Capitals made headlines last season by signing Dewald Brevis for R16.5 million, breaking the previous record held by Tristan Stubbs.
MI Cape Town, led by Rashid Khan and coached by Robin Peterson, have retained players including Corbin Bosch, Reeza Hendricks, Nicholas Pooran, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Luus. Will Jacks has been signed ahead of the auction. However, Boult, Pollard, Karim Janat, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi and Rassie van der Dussen are among those not retained.
Joburg Super Kings have retained Jarren Bacher, Matthew de Villiers, Leus du Plooy, Donovan Ferreira, Akeal Hosein, Rilee Rossouw and James Vince, while Jason Holder has been pre-signed. Several established players, including Faf du Plessis, Nandre Burger, Reece Topley and Imran Tahir, have not been retained.
Pretoria Capitals have retained Dewald Brevis, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Andre Russell and Sherfane Rutherford. They have also pre-signed Phil Salt and Matthew Short.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape, the defending champions, have retained Tristan Stubbs, Quinton de Kock, Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje and Matthew Breetzke, among others. Mitchell Marsh and Rishad Hossain have been signed ahead of the auction.
Durban’s Super Giants, captained by Aiden Markram, have retained a strong core featuring Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen, Liam Livingstone, Sunil Narine and Kane Williamson, while Sam Curran has been pre-signed.
Paarl Royals, led by David Miller, have completed their squad with players including Joe Root, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sikandar Raza and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
The auction is expected to determine the final composition of the four remaining squads ahead of the fifth season of the SA20.