South Africa is on a roll to rejuvenate its domestic setup and as a first step, they have come up with a new league. The six-team tournament coined as ‘SA20’ is set to get underway in early 2023. Fans all around the world can draw a familiarity between the teams involved in the Indian T20 League and the new South African league as all teams are owned by Indian T20 League franchises.
The auction for the inaugural edition of the new league took place on Monday (September 19). The teams fought the inaugural battle with the auction card ahead of the mega launch of the tournament. As one could expect, there were some expensive bids from a few teams. MI Cape Town, Jo’Burg Super Kings, Pretoria Capitals, Durban’s Super Giants, Sunrisers Eastern Cape and Paarl Royals took part in the auction.
For the unversed, 1 South African Rand = 4.50 INR
Let’s take a look at five expensive buys from the SA20 auction:
1) Tristan Stubbs – R 9.2 M (INR 4.1 crores) – Sunrisers Eastern Cape
Tristan Stubbs, the hero of the moment, went to Sunrisers Eastern Cape for a whopping R9.2 M (INR 4.1 crore) in the SA20 auction. The 22-year-old is known for his classy timing and any team would love to have him in the brigade.
However, fate has it that he must play for Sunrisers Eastern Cape as they bought him for a whopping amount. Needless to say, it is a worthy addition for them. With a strike rate of 160.65 in the T20s, he’ll go down as a player to watch out for in the tournament.
