New Delhi: Six teams in the new South African T20 league have been bought by the owners of IPL franchises. Reliance Industries Limited (Mumbai Indian), RPSG Sports Private Limited (Lucknow Super Giants), Sun TV Network Limited (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (Chennai Super Kings), Royals Sports Group (Rajasthan Royals) and JSW Sports (Delhi Capitals) won the bids for the six franchises.
Reliance has bought the franchise based in Newlands, Cape Town. While RPSG has bought the franchise from Kingsmead in Durban, Sun TV Network has its new home in St George’s Park, Gqeberha. Chennai Super Kings have bought Wanderers, a franchise in the ‘city of gold’, which is Johannesburg. The Boland Park stadium in Paarl is now the home ground for Royals Sports Group and SuperSport Park in Pretoria is the home for JSW Group.
“We are thrilled to welcome our new franchise owners to the South African League taking place in January and February 2023. This is truly an exciting time for South African cricket; the overwhelming interest shows that the country remains valued in the global cricketing eco-system,” Graeme Smith, who is the league’s commissioner, said.
The bidding was done using an open bid process managed by Deloitte Corporate Finance. According to a statement by Cricket South Africa, the process involved 29 entities bidding for cricketing 10 venues in the country.
As the South African players will be busy playing the league, their team has withdrawn from the 3-match ODI series against Australia, which was supposed to happen from 12-17 January. This withdrawal will affect their chances to qualify for the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup. The Proteas currently stand at the 11th spot with 49 points in the Super League.