The 2019 Indian Premier League will start on 23 March, with several South African stars involved in the 12th edition of the tournament.

AB’s sub-continent tour

• Batsman AB de Villiers was retained by the Royal Challengers Bangalore and will join the franchise on the back of a solid stretch of form for the Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League and Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League.

Klaasen’s leftovers

• Wicketkeeper-batsman Heinrich Klaasen is new to the Royal Challengers. He was purchased for over R1-million. The IPL will probably be the biggest tournament he plays in this year, as hopes of a berth in the Proteas’ World Cup squad fade.

Four franchises later

• Opening batsman Quinton de Kock has moved from the Challengers to Mumbai Indians, who will be his fourth IPL franchise after the Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad. De Kock is joined by West Indian big-hitters Kieron Pollard and Evin Lewis at Mumbai.

Just the two of us

• The Chennai Super Kings invested heavily in the retention of Proteas duo Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir. Both have significant roles to play in the World Cup after the IPL, with du Plessis chasing a maiden title and Tahir nearing ODI retirement.

Post-Kolpak

• Fast bowler Hardus Viljoen ended his Proteas career for a Kolpak contract with Derbyshire – and later ended that in pursuit of stints in domestic Twenty20 competitions around the world. He’ll soon add the Kings XI Punjab, who also have newfound wicketkeeper-batsman David Miller, to a growing list of franchises that includes the BPL’s Chittagong Vikings and PSL’s Qalandars.

Capitalists Colin and Chris

• The Daredevils have been renamed the Capitals, but have kept familiar names Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada, who will be partnered by new arrival Colin Ingram. The hard-hitting left-hander was with Delhi several years ago – and has rejoined for a whopping R13-million.

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