It may not have been called the 'mega auction' but it is a big one for Cricket South Africa's SA20, still in its nascent stage, into its fourth season, with as many as 84 slots up for grabs out of a total availability of 114. The squad size of 19 remains the same, the number of overseas players in a squad (7) is the same; every team has already picked its wildcard player and probably the only change is that the rookie draft has been removed and all six teams have been mandated to pick two U-23 local players, which will also include the likes of Kwena Maphaka and Dewald Brevis as part of the auction pool.
Ryan Rickelton called him 'Sir Dewald Brevis', and the 22-year-old is expected to attract the biggest bid, having lit up the T20 stage recently in the IPL and in Australia for the national team. Similarly, national T20 captain Aiden Markram will be in demand given that three teams don't have a captain just yet and Durban's Super Giants are expected to go after the 30-year-old, given the IPL connection. Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Rassie van der Dussen, Tabraiz Shamsi and Matthew Breetzke, among others, will be a few big local names in the auction pool.
Pretoria Capitals have the biggest purse remaining (R32.5 million - INR 16.28 cr approx.), having retained/pre-signed just three players and all of them overseas. After a couple of poor seasons, the Capitals are looking to start from scratch under a new coach in Sourav Ganguly and will be keen to add a few local international stars and get a captain, too. MI Cape Town, the defending champions, will have the least purse, having retained all six players, in addition to a wildcard pick in Kagiso Rabada. James Anderson, Shakib Al Hasan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Jordan Cox will be a few of the high-profile names in the overseas roster as six teams rebuild their squads.
| Franchise | Total slots left | Overseas | RTM Left | Purse remaining |
| Pretoria Capitals | 16 | 4 | 2 | R32.5 million |
| Durban's Super Giants | 15 | 4 | 1 | R29.5 million |
| Joburg Super Kings | 14 | 4 | 1 | R21.5 million |
| Sunrisers Eastern Cape | 14 | 4 | 1 | R21.5 million |
| Paarl Royals | 13 | 5 | 0 | R14.5 million |
| MI Cape Town | 12 | 4 | 0 | R11.5 million |
When and where to watch the SA20 2025-26 auction live on TV and OTT in India?
The SA20 2025-26 will kick off at 5:30 PM IST (2 PM local time) on Tuesday, September 9, with the build-up programme to begin half an hour ago. The auction will be live broadcast on TV on SA20's YouTube channel in India as well as on the JioHotstar app and website.