A great news for the Chennai Super Kings fans is that Faf du Plessis will be seen back in the yellow of the Super Kings. Not in the IPL though – but in the new league in South Africa where the CSK owners have roped in the Johannesburg franchise!
The tournament organised by Cricket South Africa (CSA), which will kick off in January next year, has sold all its six franchises to the IPL owners, one of which is CSK, who have included Faf du Plessis as one of their marquee signings. The Chennai management is believed to have also roped in Moeen Ali.
Du Plessis had represented CSK from 2011 to 2021, except in 2016 and 2017, when the franchise was suspended. The four-time IPL champions could not retain him in the 2022 mega-auction, where he was bought by RCB and was named their captain too.
Rashid Khan is part of the MI family now!
Superstar Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan will be seen in the blue colours of Mumbai Indians next year in this South Africa league as the five-time IPL champions, whose parent company Reliance Industries Limited have signed Rashid in their side – the MI Cape Town.
MI Cape Town have announced their signings – and these are some of the biggest names in T20 circuit: Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Kagiso Rabada, Dewald Brevis and Rashid Khan.
“I’m excited as we begin our journey in building “MI Cape Town”. With our direct player signings, we have taken the first step towards building the MI philosophy — having a strong core around which the team will be planned. I am glad to welcome Rashid, Kagiso, Liam, Sam, to the #OneFamily and happy to have Dewald continue with us on this new journey,” Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio, said.
As per the rules, each of the six franchises will get to pre-sign 5 cricketers – three overseas, one South African international and one uncapped South African player – before the auction, where the franchises will be allowed to build a squad of 17 players.
Paarl Royals retain Jos Buttler; RPSG Durban retain Quinton de Kock
Only MI Cape Town have revealed their pre-signings so far; but the likes of Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Eoin Morgan, Jason Holder, Jason Roy, and a number of Sri Lankan players are reported to have also been bought in by other franchises. There are no Pakistani cricketers in the tournament.
Just like the IPL, the CSA will allow a maximum of 4 overseas players in the eleven in their league, which will take centre-stage in January 2023.
