The first ever edition of Global T20 League is all set to kick off with the player draft scheduled on 19th August.
For the first time, the rainbow nation is having a T20 league of its own. 8 franchises will be battling it out for the elusive title namely Durban, Benoni, Pretoria, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.
T20 Global League”s Franchise Owners, as well as Their Captains, are as follows:
Cape Town – JP Duminy(C)
Owner – Shah Rukh Khan{KKR}
Durban – Hashim Amla(C)
Owner – Fawad Rana
Johannesburg – K. Rabada(C)
Owner – GMR Group{DD}
Benoni – Q de Kock(C)
Owner – Javed Afridi
Pretoria – AB De Villiers(C)
Owner – Osman Osman
Port Elizabeth – Imran Tahir(C)
Owner – Ajay Sethi
Stellenbosch – FAF du Plessis(C)
Owner – Mustaq Brey
Bloemfontein – David Miller(C)
Owner – Sushil Kumar
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is one of the most loved actors across the globe and is an ardent cricket fan. He owns the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise which is one of the most successful in League”s history. Also, he owns Trinbago Knight Riders franchise in CPL back in the Caribbean.
He has thrown his hat in the ring in the Global T20 league buying the Cape Town-based franchise. The side will be led by JP Duminy and will have its home ground in Newlands, Cape Town. The franchise is named Cape Town Knight Riders.
“On behalf of all of us from Knight Riders, congratulations to Cricket South Africa for the launch of exciting new T20 Global League. We are delighted and thankful that you have made Knight Riders part of the new Global League. South Africa is a beautiful country with beautiful people and I really look forward being part of the exciting new journey and building something special together. We are particularly thrilled to make Cape Town and Newlands our new home away from home,” Shah Rukh said.
Left handed batsman and local boy JP Duminy is named as captain of the side.
“The South African league promises to be a great extravaganza and we are thankful to Cricket South Africa for making us part of the new phenomenon. Cape Town is a world-class city with a huge Cricket loving public and we are glad to launch Cape Town Knight Riders,” CEO – Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Venky Mysore said.
– by Atharva Apte
