South African batting sensation Tristan Stubbs triggered a bidding frenzy with Sunrisers Eastern Cape getting his services for a staggering 9.2 million rand (USD 500,000 plus) at the inaugural auction of the SA T20 League on Monday. (More Cricket News)
The six teams in the league are owned by IPL franchises — MI Cape Town (Reliance), Pretoria Capitals (JSW), Paarl Royals (Royals Sports Group), Durban Super Giants (RPSG-Sanjiv Goenka), Johannesburg Super Kings (India Cements), Sunrisers Eastern Cape (Sunrisers Hyderabad owner Kaviya Maran).
With a salary cap of R 34 million (USD 1.9 million approx, INR 15 crore) per team, robust bidding was witnessed with Stubbs, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, being the most sought-after.
Four franchises were involved in bidding war with MI Cape Town making the initial move followed by Paarl Royals. However, towards the end it was Johannesburg Super Kings and Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who fought tooth and nail before the latter made a winning bid of R 9.2 million.
“I am still shaking,” was Stubbs’ first reaction. The other big buy for Sunrisers was their own IPL player — left-arm pacer Marco Jansen for R 6.1 million (USD 344,000) One of the other notable gainers was Rilee Rossouw, who laughed his way to the bank with a R 6.9 million (USD 390,000 approx) bid from Pretoria Capitals.
Among the known players, Lungi Ngidi got R 3.4 million (USD 191,000 USD) while Tabraiz Shamsi got a bid of R 4.3 million (242,000 USD) from the same franchise. The hard-hitting Heinrich Klaasen was picked by Durban Super Giants for R 4.5 million (USD 252,000) while Keshav Maharaj got R 2.5 million (USD 141,000) from Sanjiv Goenka’s team.
Johannesburg Super Kings picked up England batter Dawid Malan for R 2.7 million (USD 152,000) and hard-hitting youngster Harry Brook for R 2.1 million (USD 118,000).
The big names that went unsold include World Cup-winning England captain Eoin Morgan, South African ODI captain Temba Bavuma and the Asia Cup-winning opening pair from Sri Lanka, Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka.
SA T20 Player Auction Full Squads
Johannesburg Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Gerald Coetzee, Maheesh Theekshana, Romario Shepherd, Harry Brook, Janneman Malan, Reeza Hendricks, Kyle Verreynne, George Garton, Alzarri Joseph, Leus du Plooy, Lewis Gregory, Lizaad Williams, Donavon Ferreira, Nandre Burger, Malusi Siboto, Caleb Seleka
Sunrisers Eastern Cape: Aiden Markram, Ottneil Baartman, Marco Jansen, Tristan Stubbs, Sisanda Magala, Junaid Dawood, Mason Crane, Jon-Jon Smuts, Jordan Cox, Adam Rossington, Roelof van der Merwe, Marques Ackerman, James Fuller, Brydon Carse, Sarel Erwee, Aya Gqamane, Tom Abell
Paarl Royals: David Miller, Corbin Bosch, Jos Buttler, Obed McCoy, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jason Roy, Dane Vilas, Bjorn Fortuin, Wihan Lubbe, Ferisco Adams, Imraan Manack, Evan Jones, Ramon Simmonds, Mitchell van Buuren, Eoin Morgan, Codi Yusuf
Durban Super Giants: Quinton de Kock, Prenelan Subrayen, Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers, Reece Topley, Dwaine Pretorius, Heinrich Klaasen, Keemo Paul, Keshav Maharaj, Kyle Abbott, Junior Dala, Dilshan Madushanka, Johnson Charles, Matthew Breetzke, Christiaan Jonker, Wiaan Mulder, Simon Harmer
MI Cape Town: Kagiso Rabada, Dewald Brevis, Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Rassie van der Dussen, Ryan Rickelton, George Linde, Beuran Hendricks, Duan Jansen, Delano Potgieter, Grant Roelofsen, Wesley Marshall, Olly Stone, Waqar Salamkheil, Ziyaad Abharams, Odean Smith
Pretoria Capitals: Anrich Nortje, Migael Pretorius, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt, Wayne Parnell, Josh Little, Shaun von Berg, Adil Rashid, Cameron Delport, Will Jacks, Theunis de Bruyn, Marco Marais, Kusal Mendis, Daryn Dupavillon, Jimmy Neesham, Eathan Bosch, Shane Dadswell
