The RPSG Durban team has finalized and revealed their first five picks for the upcoming, newly launched T20 league by Cricket South Africa (CSA), the name of the league is yet to be christened and announced.
Who are the players RPSG Durban team has signed?
Quinton de Kock, Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers, Reece Topley and uncapped Prenelan Subrayen are the five players signed by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, which is the owner of the IPL team Lucknow Super Giants, for their Durban franchise.
Disclosing these five renowned cricketers as their initial picks prior to the auction, Dr Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman of RPSG Group, said: “I welcome all the players to the RPSG Durban family. It’s a new beginning, full of hope and promise. We are confident that the talented players will add to the foundation of the team and will uphold our core philosophy of performance.”
The CSA rules for the first five picks for each team stated that the franchise can sign a maximum of one capped South African, three overseas players and an uncapped South African player ahead of the auction, which is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
Quinton de Kock, Holder and Mayers were part of the Lucknow Super Giants team in the IPL 2022, which was led by KL Rahul and reached the playoffs stage where they were knocked out in the Eliminator by RCB.
South African opener and wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock was an obvious and expected choice for RPSG Durban as the left-hander is a marquee Protea cricketer and, having retired from Test cricket, will have all his focus and energies on T20 cricket.
De Kock has been in good form – he played all 15 of their games for LSG during IPL 2022, scoring 508 runs, while Jason Holder, the former West Indies captain and T20 World Cup winner, snapped up 14 wickets in 12 matches in the IPL. Mayers, though, didn’t get a game to play in the IPL but since has been in destructive form as an opener for the West Indies and also contributed with the ball. England pacer Reece.
Topley hasn’t played in the IPL but the left-armer has made his name as a brilliant new ball seamer this year; Topley has a vast experience of 122 T20s, wherein he has 157 wickets to his name. He starred for England recently in the white-ball matches against India, troubling the Indian top-order.
Who is the uncapped Prenelan Subrayen?
Prenelan Subrayen is a 28-year-old bowling all-rounder from Durban itself who bats right-handed and bowls off-spin. A renowned name in the domestic circuit, Subrayen has a decent amount of T20 experience: 79 T20s in which he has taken 69 wickets and scored 342 runs.
He was Player of the Match when the Dolphins won the four-day cricket title earlier this year, and was their captain when they made the semi-final of the CSA T20 Challenge, bagging 7 wickets in as many innings.
Who are the five picks of MI Cape Town?
The Durban side is the second team to announce their signings for the CSA T20 league. Before them, the MI Cape Town team, owned by Reliance Limited, the owner of Mumbai Indians, announced their first five picks: Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada and uncapped Dewald Brevis.
