Cricket South Africa has announced the host cities, owners and marquee players for the eight franchises in the T20 Global League.
The reveal took place on Monday at London’s most prestigious hotel, The Bvlgari, in London.
EY (previously known as Ernst & Young) ran the team-owner selection process to ensure that integrity, compliance and due diligence was followed throughout the process by both CSA and potential owners.
‘Competition was stiff, with more than 150 Expressions of Interest (EOI) received from around the world and a shortlist of heavy hitters to consider, but after rigorous discussions and engagement with each of the potential owners, we are certain that our final eight owners have the perfect combination of strategic insight and passion needed to make the first T20 Global League a complete success,’ said CSA president Chris Nenzani.
Foreign businessmen dominate team ownership. The GMR Group, which owns the Delhi Daredevils, has acquired the Johannesburg-based team. Through the years, the Delhi outfit has had a number of South Africans on its payroll, most recently Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada. After a sensational debut IPL campaign, it comes as little surprise that Rabada has been named the franchise’s marquee player.
Meanwhile, Bollywood star Sha Rukh Khan has bought the Cape Town-based team. The owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders has revealed that the name of the team will be the Cape Town Knight Riders.
Two South Africans have also thrown their hats into the ownership ring. Mushtaq Brey, who owns Brimstone, has bought the Stellenbosch-based team, while the owner of Blu Blood, Osman Osman, has purchased the Pretoria-based team, which includes AB de Villiers.
David Miller’s team, which is based at Mangaung Oval, has been snapped up by Sushil Kumar, a Hong Kong businessman who has never been to Bloemfontein.
Javed Afridi is the owner of the Benoni side that has the destructive Quinton de Kock in its ranks. He also owns the Pakistan Super League outfit Peshawar Zalmi.
The official eight team owners, host cities and marquee players are:
Durban
Owner: Fawad Rana
Proteas marquee player: Hashim Amla
Stadium: Kingsmead
Benoni
Owner: Javed Afridi
Proteas marquee player: Quinton de Kock
Stadium: Willowmoore Park
Pretoria
Owner: Osman Osman
Proteas marquee player: AB de Villiers
Stadium: Centurion
Stellenbosch
Owner: Mustaq Grey
Proteas marquee player: Faf du Plessis
Stadium: Boland Park
Cape Town
Owner: Shah Rukh Khan
Proteas marquee player: JP Duminy
Stadium: Newlands
Bloemfontein
Owner: Sushil Kumar
Proteas marquee player: David Miller
Stadium: Mangaung Oval
Johannesburg
Owner: GMR Sports (Delhi Daredevils)
Proteas marquee player: Kagiso Rabada
Stadium: The Wanderers
Port Elizabeth
Owner: Ajay Sethi
Proteas marquee player: Imran Tahir
Stadium: St George’s Park
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
