All six teams announced their pre-auction retentions and signings ahead of the fourth edition of the SA20. Rashid Khan (MI Cape Town), Faf du Plessis (Joburg Super Kings) and David Miller (Paarl Royals) were the only three captains retained as after three seasons of similar squads, the competition is set to transform with every franchise allowed just six retentions. That meant the two-time SA20-winning skipper Aiden Markram chose to go into the auction, hoping for a better reward and a fresh start.
Markram was among a few notable South African players, including Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Wiaan Mulder and Tabraiz Shamsi, among others who weren't retained and will go to a massive auction pool ahead of the fourth season, which is set to be a festive one, beginning a day after Christmas.
Five local domestic stars - Rubin Hermann (Paarl Royals), Kagiso Rabada (MI Cape Town), Donovan Ferreira (Joburg Super Kings), Heinrich Klaasen (Durban’s Super Giants) and Marco Jansen (Sunrisers Eastern Cape) were retained by their respective franchises as wildcard picks. Andre Russell (Pretoria Capitals) was the only overseas player picked as a wildcard.
The Capitals made the least number of pre-auction signings (three), with Russell, Sherfane Rutherford and Will Jacks being the only ones. Since ILT20 has moved to a December first week window, several regulars from the tournament were available for the SA20, also including Sunil Narine, who will join Jos Buttler at the Super Giants. All teams were allowed six retentions (three local and three overseas), the remainder of the gaps can be filled by the teams through RTM cards if they want their own player back. A total of 84 spots will be up for grabs at the September 9 auction.
Here's a look at all the retentions:
Durban’s Super Giants (remaining purse - R29.5 million)
*Sunil Narine, *Noor Ahmad, *Jos Buttler, Heinrich Klaasen (Wildcard)
Joburg Super Kings (remaining purse - R21.5 million)
Faf du Plessis, *James Vince, *Akeal Hosein, *Richard Gleeson, Donovan Ferreira (Wildcard)
MI Cape Town (remaining purse - R11.5 million)
Ryan Rickelton, George Linde, Corbin Bosch, *Rashid Khan, *Trent Boult, *Nicholas Pooran, Kagiso Rabada (Wildcard)
Paarl Royals (remaining purse - R14.5 million)
Lhuan-dre Pretorius, David Miller, Bjorn Fortuin, *Mujeeb Ur Rahman, *Sikandar Raza, Rubin Hermann (Wildcard)
Pretoria Capitals (remaining purse - R32.5 million)
*Will Jacks, *Sherfane Rutherford, *Andre Russell (Wildcard)
Sunrisers Eastern Cape (remaining purse - R21.5 million)
Tristan Stubbs, *Allah Ghazanfar, *Adam Milne, *Jonny Bairstow, Marco Jansen (Wildcard)
*Overseas players
